Loki, the Undying
by Aeternus.Flamma
Summary: [Set immediately after Infinity War. Summary inside to avoid spoilers.] Apparently, 'Undying' was the perfect choice of words when used in relation to Loki Odin-son, self proclaimed King of the Jotunheim.
1. Chapter 1

Loki, the Undying

Rated: T

Summary: [Set immediately after Infinity War, Spoilers inside.] After his encounter with Thanos, Loki is found adrift in space. After finding that he is too late to attempt to help Thor save the universe, he is determined to find out the fate of his brother. After all, Loki is still the God of Mischeif, and he may have a few, albeit drastic, tricks up his sleeve.

000

As his limp body floated through space, occasionally bumping into the body of another Asgardian, he clung to life, if only by a very thin, invisible thread. His bloodshot eyes turned into ruby red, and pale skin slowly tinged blue. Even in the absolute worst of situations, a Jotun's body was hardier than most.

Of course, Loki was unaware of the changes his body made to keep him alive.

He remained unconscious, in a state of suspended animation, as a small ship picked through the remains of the Asgardian wreckage, looting corpses of their valuable armor and weapons. This ship had appeared long after another ship had combed through and picked up who they believed to be the only living being left in destruction.

" _Is that… a Jotun?"_

" _Out here? I didn't think they left their realm-"_

" _He's still alive! The scanners are picking up life-"_

" _Bring him aboard."_

" _You're joking! We can't possible handle a living Jotun-"_

" _Besides, why should we listen to you? You're only along for the ride-"_

Of the four person crew, only one was left alive in the moments that followed, and Loki was brought on board.

" _You're the most valuable thing in this wreckage, Prince of Asgard."_

000

His first gasps of air were painful. He wheezed as he grasped at his throat, and then winced when his fingers touched tender flesh. How was he alive? He should have been dead! He swore he _was_ dead, and that he was finally going to have to face a moral reckoning in the after life.

And yet, here he was. He was in a small house, lying on a bed in nothing but a pair of loose fitting trousers. There were two windows open in the room, both of which were open with cream drapes billowing as cool air poured into the room. Despite the breeze, Loki found that he was uncomfortably warm.

He also found that he was blue.

"No…" His voice came out as nothing more than a hoarse whisper. He hated seeing his blue skin. Regardless, he slowly moved one leg over the side of the bed and then the other. The room was rather bare, save for a dresser with a vanity and a wash basin. Loki approached the mirror and inspected his neck.

He could see the bruising left behind by Thanos. His blue skin was darker, almost black, with the imprints in the shape of large fingers. Gingerly, Loki touched the marks, hissing as he did so. He could feel that there was some sort of residue left behind on his skin, quite recently as well, since it was wet.

Wiping a bit of the liquid off, Loki inspected it. Whatever it was, it seemed to smell like an herbal remedy. Clearly he had a caretaker while he was unconscious. (Really, how was he not dead!)

Unconscious… Loki swallowed hard, ignoring the pain in his throat. He returned to the bed and dropped down to it, putting his head into his hands. He had truly, honestly not planned to survive this time around. The two other times he had died, he had escape routes-or at least, the will to live. Seeing the last of the Asgardians die, seeing his brother being scorched by the Power Gem, seeing the Hulk, _the Hulk for Odin's sake!,_ be tossed around like a rag doll…

He had always known that Thanos was the real threat, the biggest threat. Thanos was the villain that made Loki realize how tiny and insignificant Loki really was. He had hoped that if he failed, he would die quickly so that he did not have to suffer this reality alone.

And yet, here he was. He was alive, and he was, presumably, alone. He was, possibly, the last survivor. Perhaps it was his doom-his punishment. For how incredibly badly he wanted to rule, he was forced to live as a King of Nothing, with all of his people dead.

Loki took a moment to collect his thoughts. What was his plan of action? Finding Thor, he supposed, was his first priority. Well, no, that wasn't true. He needed to find _clothes_ first. Then Thor. Then they either needed to put as much distance between themselves and Thanos as possible, or do _something_ about the Infinity Stones. He knew which option he preferred, and he knew which one Thor would prefer. He supposed that meant they would be going with the latter option.

Unfortunately, there weren't many clothing options for someone of his stature in the drawers. He pulled a cream colored tunic from one of the drawers and tugged it on-it was tight in the sleeves, but it would due. Shoes. Shoes were next. His magic was too far depleted to create or summon anything for himself-he couldn't even keep up his Aesir disguise, which had done naturally since he was a child.

Loki tried the door and found it unlocked. He opened it as quietly as he could and stood for a moment, listening to the sounds of the house. As far as he could tell, he was alone. He couldn't hear any other sounds of movement.

 _Weapon. I need a weapon_.

Of course, his very hands were weapons of sorts, as just about all creatures succumbed to the natural frostbite of Jotun skin. However he'd rather not rely on such tactics if he could avoid it. He did not like his Jotun nature and did not care to use it. Creeping out of the room, Loki headed to the right-to a set of stairs.

The downstairs was just as bright and airy as the upstairs. The smell of food wafted through the hallways, luring Loki towards the kitchen. There was no one inside, but there was a plate of cured meat sitting near some bread. Despite the fact that he didn't necessarily need to eat to stay alive, his body forced him to step into the kitchen and devour the food without a second thought. There was a pitcher nearby as well, filled with some sort of citrusy drink. Loki drank directly from the pitcher, ignoring the ache in his throat.

Feeling at least a bit satisfied, Loki turned to scouring for a weapon. It took a few tries, but he was able to find a drawer with sharp knives-not ideal, but better than nothing.

Loki continued to scout out the house, but saw no signs of life beyond a feline of sorts that growled at him when he approached. He raised a brow and stepped away, ignoring it after that. When he failed to find anyone else in the sparsely furnished house, he took to the outside.

He wasn't sure what planet he was on. There was a dark orange sun the horizon with a ringed planet in the distance. The little house stood on its own with no other structures in sight. There were mountains to either side of him and lush blue-green all around. Loki couldn't be sure, but it seemed that ahead of the house there were fields, leading him to believe he was on a farm.

The grass actually felt wonderful on his bare feet-it had been a long time since he was somewhere with this much lush wildlife: he had been in space, after all, and before that on Sakaar which was an absolute shit-hole, if he were honest. If he hadn't had such a pressing need to get back to Thor and attempt to stop Thanos, this place seemed like it could be a quite nice place for a bit of recovery time-recovery time he apparently desperately needed, based on the condition of his body.

Shaking the thoughts from his head, Loki neared the back of the building. He poked his head around and finally found who he assumed as the owner of the house.

There was a young woman kneeling on the ground, covered in dirt. She had a hat on, likely to protect her from the sun and inadvertently shielding her face from him, and dirty gloves that went to just about her elbows. From his distance, Loki could just barely hear her humming. She appeared to be gardening.

Loki licked his lips and contemplated what to do. Should he use his silver-tongue and try to convince her to help him get off this planet? Or should he use the knife in his hand to give her no choice?

Option two seemed to be the best course of action; in his Jotun form, after all, he was hardly a charismatic being. She was more likely to go off screaming if he were to approach her.

Loki moved as silently as he could so that he could his his presence until the very last moment. Just as he came within a few steps of the woman, his shadow fell over her, causing her to quickly stand up in panic.

As she stood, Loki grabbed her by the back of her shirt and threw her to the ground. She rolled over and tried to crawl away, but he lunged forward, pinning her on her stomach. "Who are you, and where am I?" He spat out, holding the blade to her neck. He was careful not to touch her directly, as he knew that even if not intentional, he could still blacken her skin. She struggled for a brief moment, but felt the point of the knife on her neck and squealed.

"Cassiopeia! My name is Cassiopeia, and you're on Raynarn! Please don't hurt me!"

"How did I get here?" Loki bunched up the fabric of her shirt and lifted her just about an inch before roughly pushing her back into the ground. He wanted to keep her jarred and off-guard until he had all of the information he needed.

She coughed on grass and dirt. "A friend found you adrift in space! She brought you here to recover! I'm an herbalist and have basic medical training!"

Loki took a moment to think about her words. As far as he could tell, that seemed a likely story. "And the others? What of the others I was with?"

"I don't know-" Loki shook her roughly again at her words, "-I swear I don't know! I was told you were the only survivor!"

Of course, it's what he expected. If he had truly been set adrift in space, it's possible that he could have been the only one to last very long due to his Jotun nature. But Thor-Thor could have survived too. He just knew it. Maybe he had managed to make it out a different way. Maybe Thanos took him.

"And you, what, just decided to take in a strange man? You're alone out here, defenseless. How stupid can you be?"

"Pretty stupid, I guess," she replied bitterly, trying to turn her head a bit further to the side. With her hat now a few feet away, her hair, dark and braided, was in her face. "There's just been so much death that I couldn't turn you away! Half the people on our planet just disappeared! I had to do something!"

Loki loosened his grip on the woman and moved the knife away a bit. "Half of your people disappeared?"

"Yes! And not just here! Other posts I do trading with off-planet said the same thing! Half the people just… just gone! Dissolved into nothing! No one knows what happened!"

Closing his eyes, Loki released the woman and then lifted his knee off of her back. He put his head back and sighed. He was too late-there were all too late. Thanos had already done it. He had already succeeded in his plan, and there was nothing that could be done about it. Half of the people in the entire universe…. Just gone.

And here he was, stuck on some farming planet, not knowing if anyone else he knew survived. He was alone. He was a survivor, but he was alone. He supposed he was doomed to forever be Loki, the Undying.

000

Author's Notes: After seeing the movie twice, I was determined to do something to quell my anger. I was so incredibly upset that Loki died so dang quickly! So, this is my versio of the events that happen immediately after Infinity Wars. A few things to note about this story:

*Romance will be very minimal if it is non-canon. Don't be thrown off by the immediate introduction of a female original character. This isn't a Loki-romance story. The other characters who are alive as of the end of Infinity Wars will be appearing and playing a big part. Though this story centers around Loki, it is an Avengers fanfiction.

*I'm like a CLAMP writer. I love to reuse characters. You may find it annoying but if you've read other works of mine, you may find some overlap.

So, thanks for reading! We'll see if my frustration is enough of a motivator to keep me updating!

Ever your servant,

A.F


	2. Chapter 2

Loki, the Undying

Rated: T

Summary: [Set immediately after Infinity War, Spoilers inside.] After his encounter with Thanos, Loki is found adrift in space. After finding that he is too late to attempt to help Thor save the universe, he is determined to find out the fate of his brother. After all, Loki is still the God of Mischeif, and he may have a few, albeit drastic, tricks up his sleeve.

000

**I REPEAT, THIS IS NOT A ROMANCE STORY. PLEASE KEEP THIS IN MIND.**

"So that's what happened," the woman, Cassiopeia, sighed and set down a food bowl for her cat. The feline creature, which was a bit larger than the cats that Loki was familiar with, had a long tail with a tuft at the bottom and vibrant black and grey stripes. Its ears were large and pointed, and it growled whenever Cassiopeia neared him.

Loki had just explained to her what he could about Thanos and his goals, and told her that he assumed that the mad Titan had succeeded. Of course, all of this was after their incident in the garden, which she was surprisingly quick to forgive him for. If he were to take a guess, he would say that she was lonely. There was no one else around for leagues—and that wasn't even the result of Thanos's decimation. There had hardly been anyone out there to begin with, it seemed.

Cassiopiea was a lovely woman, though perhaps a bit naïve. Loki had never been to this planet, Raynarn, and he had never met any of its natives. Based on the few pictures around the house, they all appeared to be similar to Cassiopea—mostly humanoid, with a few exaggerated features. She was tan, though he did not know if that was her natural coloring for from working outside, with large, brown eyes, and long, pointed ears.

After their initial meeting—or at least, initial after Loki was awake—she dug out some clothes for him and showed him how to work the shower, which fell directly from holes in the ceiling, mimicking rain. It was quite refreshing.

Then she made him dinner.

Loki sat across from her, picking at his meal. He had already devoured some of her food without any second thoughts, and so far, he had no ill side effects. He supposed that if Thanos couldn't kill him, it was unlikely that anything she could try to poison him with would do him in either. She asked him questions over dinner, primarily about other planets and places he had been. She appeared to be legitimately interested in what he had to say.

What bothered him was not the attention she gave him. He was used to it, of course. He could command a conversation most anywhere he went, beyond Asgard of course, and people found him quite charming. He knew just what to say and how to say it to keep people hanging on his words—it was why he was called Loki Silver-tongue, after all. What bothered him was the way she looked at him.

As if he were normal.

As if he weren't _blue._

Either she didn't know what a Jotun was, or… Well there was no 'or.' Hotuns were reputed monsters in all of the Nine Realms, not just on Asgard. They were considered barbaric killers, albeit killers who rarely left their planet. But this woman did nothing, she barely even reacted when he shattered a glass after getting a bit worked up while talking of Thanos and freezing its contents.

She merely stood, gave him a wooden cup, and brushed up the glass shards.

"So what will you do now?" Cassiopeia asked, sliding the cat's bowl a bit closer with her foot. It growled again and took a swipe at her.

"That cat doesn't seem to like you very much."

"Yeah," she sighed, stepping away. "It was my friend's cat. I took him in after she… well, you know. Disappeared. Couldn't bear to leave him on his own."

Loki wiped his mouth and set down his napkin, pushing his plate away from him. It hurt to swallow, but it felt good to eat and drink. He felt like he was alive, which, to be honest, he had never, ever been more grateful for. Despite that, there was a pit in his stomach that grew each time he thanked Odin for his life. He supposed it was what other people called _survivor's guilt._

Was Thor sitting down to a table to eat? Even if he had the capability or the chance, he probably wasn't. He was probably already working on a plan to reverse the damage Thanos had done. Loki wasn't sure it was possible. He knew the power of the tesseract, and he knew the power that had been in his scepter. Thor had told him that the mind gem had been in his scepter the entire time! He had not one but _two_ infinity gems at his fingertips, and he let them slip away.

If he could go back in time to that moment, he would…. He didn't know what he would do. But he would decidedly _not_ let the Chitauri into New York. He would _not_ fight Avengers. He would _not_ do any of Thanos's bidding.

Of course, it was easier to think these things than actually know if he would change anything if he had the chance. The Other, one of Thanos's minions, had been in his head at the time. He had a direct connection to Thanos and Loki knew that he would have had to sever that tie in order to try to change anything.

Well, it was a nice thought, but surely impossible.

Right?

Loki ran a hand through his hair, scratching the back of his neck as he did so. "Is there any way off of this planet?"

Cassiopeia shrugged as she took his plates and set them in the sink. "Well, not easily. We're a trading post planet, but not many come here, 'cept for a few times a year. We do a lot of farming, and send our excess off the planet. We always have a lot of excess, but now we may not have the hands to work the fields. Of course, if you think about it, we may not have a lot of demand now. If half the universe is gone, I guess that's a lot less people to feed. We may have even fewer traders this year."

Loki nodded to himself. There was a way off the planet, but it would be difficult. Likely harder in his blue form as well. "And how long can I stay here? If your, ah, friend who found me planning on returning for me at some point?"

"I suppose you can stay as long as you want. I've got room. I've got food. It's no bother to have some company for a while. As for my friend… I don't really know. I guess, I don't even know if she's alive. You were dropped off just a little before people started disappearing. For all I know, she disappeared too…"

Loki didn't sleep that night. He had felt he had slept long enough. The skyline was quite impressive at night, and though it was dark, a large moon emitted a soft glow. Loki sat for what must have been hours, staring at that moon. There were insects in the trees chirping all night. Part of him was extremely annoyed at the sound, but another part of him found the rhythmic hum soothing. He didn't want to be soothed, however. He wanted to be angry. Being angry made him want to take action.

He hated feeling like he should just give up. Asgard was gone, so there was nothing else for him to rule. Thor could be dead, so there was no one else for him to compete with. Thanos had won, so there were no other villains for him either serve or oppose. Why couldn't he just be happy with a quiet life somewhere?

Things had been fantastic on Sakaar. He had a wonderful little existence there. He was well liked, he had amassed a small fortune, and he could get away with causing a small amount of trouble. He could possibly go back. He could live out his days gambling and drinking. That didn't seem so bad, did it?

Maybe it didn't, but he couldn't help feeling so _empty_. In the past, no matter where he went, he knew that there was always a chance to go _home_. He knew that Asgard was still thriving, or that Thor was probably okay. But not now. Now he felt alone.

Finally, when the sounds of the night became too much for him, Loki returned to the house. He flipped on a light in the kitchen and rummaged through the cupboards. Surely there had to be some alcohol in this place. Farmers were always the first people to find a way to make booze. When he had no luck, he went to the basement.

It was very dark down there, and there was only one dim light. Despite that, Loki could see quite well—one of the few benefits of his Jotun nature. There were many boxes stacked in the basement. Some seemed rather old and partially rotted away, some were rather new. There were stamps and stickers, even a few brands in the containers that indicated they had come from other planets. He supposed that Cassiopeia would have to stock up for months at a time if the traders came through so rarely.

With a sigh, Loki stepped towards one of the boxes and tore it open: miscellaneous fabrics and clothes. That made sense. Shopping was likely rare in this area. She likely had to make and repair her own clothing. Another box was half open, that had spare parts for machinery. He hadn't seen any farming equipement, but he hadn't taken a walk into the fields yet.

A few boxes later, he finally found what he was looking for. Alcohol.

And boy did he hit the motherload.

"Does she even _know_ what she has here? How could she have managed to get her hands on this stuff?" There were bottles of Revvyat Wine, covered in dust, in one of the boxes. Revvyat Wine was extremely rare, and she had an entire _case_. He had only had it once before, on Sakaar, and that was because someone traded the Grand Master for one of his warriors. Even Asgard didn't get Revvyat Wine, but that was because it was usually only acquired through illegal means.

"Wouldn't be surprised if some of the disreputable sort fueled up here. Wonder what she gave them for this," he muttered as he took a bottle and returned to the stairs. He looked around at the numerous other boxes he hadn't explored. Well, at the very least, if he were going to be stuck there for some time, he could do something interesting with his time.

In the morning, Loki woke to fingers around his neck. Thoughts of Thanos flooded back to him as he grabbed the hands and jerked them away from him. He sat up abruptly, keeping his hands on the thin wrists of his attacker. It took him a few moments to realize it was Cassiopeia before him.

He quickly released her.

"You fool," he hissed, "don't you know how dangerous it is to touch a Jotun!?"

She looked up at him with bewildered brown eyes and then smiled. She held up her wrists to him, showing off his handy work. They had already blackened. Fear and panic set in, thinking that he had accidentally harmed an innocent person—she could lose her hands!

However, as he stared at her, her smile didn't disappear. Instead, the black slowly started to fade away, leaving behind just her regular, tanned skin.

"Don't worry, I heal extremely quickly. That's how I've been able to apply salve to your bruises. You can't really hurt me as fast as I heal. It just feels a bit numb, and then goes away. I told you, I have some medical training. I didn't always live here. I spent some time one our sister planets during the Ring Wars. You're a pretty useful medic when you're really hard to kill."

"Wouldn't you have been a better soldier?"

Cassiopeia shrugged. "Maybe. I don't like fighting."

Loki nodded slowly and felt his neck. There was some sort of paste on his neck, likely the same as whatever he had felt the day before.

"The bruising was pretty terrible when you came here. It's been slow, but I've been able to speed up the healing."

"Wonderful," he replied, thinking that his bruising was the least of his concerns. "Now you wouldn't happen to have something that could restore magical powers, would you?"

Cassiopeia turned her head to the side, her braid falling over her shoulder. "Magic? Why would you need that something to restore that?"

Loki tried not to roll his eyes, not that it was even noticeable with his ruby red eye coloring. "I don't _always_ look like this. Only when my magic has been depleted. I need it back if I am ever going to leave this place."

"Oh," she replied, nodding slowly. "Actually, I think I can make something for that."

000

Time passed differently on Titan, that much Tony knew. He couldn't tell if it was a natural side effect of the planet and its relation to a sun, or if it was the result of the Time Stone. Either way, he was stuck there, with no way to go home. He had survived Thanos, only to die on Titan.

And Pepper… He was starting to think he was doomed to never have the life he wanted. He had everything a man could ask for, but he continuously had to go off and put himself in danger. And for what? He had failed. Was Pepper even alive on Earth? Even if he could make it home and find her alive, would she forgive him?

No, he doubted it.

But it didn't matter. He was going to die there.

Maybe.

"Humans need to eat, if I'm not mistaken," a cold voice came from somewhere behind him. A packet of _something_ was thrown to him. "I've only met Quill, but he seemed to need to eat."

It was the blue woman who had joined the fight. The one that had alerted Star-Lord to the fact that Gamora was likely dead. The one that had ruined their plan. Tony wanted to be angry with her, but he didn't have the energy. He felt empty. Hopeless. He was in the vastness of space, a scientist's dream, but he was alone.

"Your suit. It repaired itself. I want that tech."

Tony jumped up, throwing the supposed food pouch to the side. "You want this tech? Yeah, awesome. So do it. I can't repair myself out here in the middle of freakin' no where! My nano-tech can't repair, I don't have a ship that isn't broken into two pieces, and I'm going to lose my damned mind here before I die!"

The blue woman—was she a woman? Yes, Tony decided it was a woman—looked suitably unimpressed by him. Then again, she had just faced down Thanos. He supposed he wasn't near threatening enough after that. Tony collapsed and put his head into his hands, his hands that had held Peter not too long before, maybe, and watched him fade away into nothingness.

Pepper better not be pregnant. All Tony would do is get their child killed.

"You think you're the only one who's lost something?" The woman asked, raising a mechanical brow. "I just lost everything. A father I spent my life hating, and a sister I realized I loved too late. Are you going to do something about it, or just sit here in self pity?"

Tony stared up at her.

"And what should I be doing, Blue?"

"We get the time gem."

It was Tony's turn to raise his brow. "We?"

The woman shrugged. "I'd trust a man of metal more than I'd trust most. My name's Nebula, not _Blue_."

A rush of andrenaline that Tony didn't even know he had left surged through him and he stood. "Okay. Okay, yeah. That's something. The Time Gem."

"But first, we need to make some repairs. Can you replicate the tech that repaired your suit?" Nebula asked, nodding towards the pieces of Tony's Iron Man suit that were still slowly trying to repair, even now.

"With the right lab, I could."

"Okay," she said and turned. "Take that food packet. Eat it. Then we'll go to a trading post I know of. They have an independent lab we may be able to… commandeer."

"Commandeer. I like it." Tony replied and snatched up the food pouch. He gave a quick look around to the broken planet that had become a graveyard. Time Stone. Yes. Good. He could fix this. He had to. He couldn't possibly live with the survivor's guilt building up inside of him.

000

 **Author's Notes** : Aha! Yes, see, this is an Avengers story! This plot will incorporate some things I know of the comics, as well as some theories for the sequel. I have no idea what is correct, so any similarities is mostly me getting lucky with a few people spewing theories at me! Again, a reminder, this is NOT a romance. Do you want Loki to have *some* romance? Let me know. If people think he should get some romance, I'll write it in. Otherwise, well, you'll see. Romance isn't my forte, and if I write it, it's extremely slow burn.

And now, some shout outs! (Want your name here? Review and I will give you a shout out! Reviews truly keep me motivated to keep writing.)

 **The Tribute Initiate:** Hey! First review! You will forever have my gratitude for getting things kicked off! Thanks!

 **TheAngelicPyro:** Thank you so much! I do not claim to be a fantastic writer, and I'm pretty terrible at catching any typos, but I feel like my writing has grown TREMENDOUSLY since my last Loki fic! I hope people will enjoy it!

 **Trustpixiedust & Aaeiilnn: **You two both made me smile! "I'm here for Loki Living" is pretty much my favorite phrase! I love it! Thank you both for reviewing!

 **Soulamtelover4life:** Thank you for reviewing! I hope you'll like the rest of the story!

 **Ameris R:** Thank you for your review! Anyone familiar with CLAMP will know exactly that what note means, especially if they read my last Loki fic! ;)

 **Ale:** Ah yes. I did enjoy the movie quite a bit, but I was just so angry at the beginning that it took away a lot of the sadness until I saw it again. Loki is definitely more serious in my mind. DEFINIELY not a comic relief.

 **Whirlwhind421:** Thank you for your review! I hope you'll stick with me!

Ever your servant,

A.F


	3. Chapter 3

Loki, the Undying

Rated: T

Summary: [Set immediately after Infinity War, Spoilers inside.] After his encounter with Thanos, Loki is found adrift in space. After finding that he is too late to attempt to help Thor save the universe, he is determined to find out the fate of his brother. After all, Loki is still the God of Mischief, and he may have a few, albeit drastic, tricks up his sleeve.

000

"I think he likes you more than he likes me."

"Yes, well, I've always had an affinity for animals," Loki replied and tossed a balled up sock down the length of the backyard. The cat, Kylepo, ran down, snatched it up, and dropped it in front of Loki again. As it turned out, the feline was far more like a dog than a cat. When Loki didn't throw the sock again, the cat stepped up to him and pawed at his knee. It had already learned not to touch Loki's exposed skin, now that it had a bandaged right paw.

Loki turned and looked up at Cassiopeia. She had a basket in her arms, filled with some sort of leafy plant. He stood and picked up a piece. It looked like a wide piece of lettuce with blue veining in the center. "So this is the one? It can restore my magic faster?"

Cassiopeia shrugged. "I believe so. I don't know how fast is fast, but I was able to use this during the War to help treat some of the individuals people had dubbed mages. We didn't have many with actual mystical ability, to be honest. They could do little bits of summoning and such. If it helped them, then it could help you. If you're worried about trying it though—

Loki shook his head. "No, no, I am willing. Anything to be able to return to my true form."

The woman turned her head to the side a bit and raised her brow. She clearly had something she wanted to say, but was holding back.

"Well, what is it? Do you have thoughts on my blue form as well?"

"I don't know… It's just… well, I know it isn't my place to say. Everyone has their reasons for hiding, and I understand that. But, well, isn't _this_ your true form? Won't you just be using your magic to hide your real self?"

Loki frowned and stepped away from Cassiopeia. "Yes, it certainly isn't your place to say." He placed his hands together behind his back and turned to face the fields. "You're a lovely young woman and wouldn't understand the need to hide yourself from the world. People don't enjoy looking at a monster, no matter how civilized we might be."

There were a few moments of silence between them before he could hear Cassiopeia start to step away. "I might understand," she replied, her voice low and uncharacteristically icy. By the time he realized that the words were out of character for the woman he had only known for a short time, she was already gone.

Kylepo stared at Cassiopeia until she had entered the house and then picked up the balled sock to drop it in front of Loki's feet again.

"I suppose it isn't as if I have something better to do," he sighed and tossed the makeshift toy down the yard once more.

Days turned into a week, and then a week into a month. Loki tried his best to enjoy his forced vacation as much as possible, but it grew difficult. He replayed images he hated constantly, and then turned towards forming some sort of plan to leave the planet to perhaps find Thor. However even after nearly a month, he still found that he was only able to hold his Aesir form for a few hours at a time. Coming so close to death had truly wiped out his ability to use natural magic.

When he couldn't hold his form, he took towards practicing other magics that Frigga had taught him. It pained him to return to the basic lessons his adoptive mother had made him do over and over again, but it brought him some comfort knowing that she didn't have to suffer at Thanos. Having to watch her people die in front of her, only to die herself, would have been far worse. She, instead, died a hero, saving the woman that Thor loved most.

It briefly crossed his mind that even if Thor had lived, there as a chance that his woman had died. He couldn't exactly relate to the pain of losing a beloved, but he felt for Thor. More than anything, Loki just wished that there had to be no more suffering.

He sighed and watched as a few flowers rapidly sprouted in the garden and bloomed. It was a parlor trick really, but mastering a bit of simple life magic would help to heal some of his magical channel, or at least, he hoped that it would. Loki used the last of his energy to summon a small blade—it was barely more than a razor—and slice the flowers at the base of their stem.

Flowers in hand, he headed back into the kitchen. It was dinner time.

"As much as I appreciate you 'getting me flowers,'" Cassiopeia said as Loki dropped the flowers into a ceramic vase, "please be sure to stick to just the flower bed. My plants are on a strict growing rotation."

Loki waved her off but said nothing. He found that she was very picky when it came to her plants and it wasn't a fight worth having. He took his usual seat at the table, and she set down a marinated piece of meat in front of him. His usual wooden cup was already on the table as well, sitting next to a smaller cup with an unappetizing green and blue mixture in it. It was his 'medicine' as she had taken to calling it—a terrible concoction that was to help with his magic. He supposed it was working, though not very quickly.

"Cassiopeia," he said after gulping down a bite of his dinner. His bruised neck had mostly healed, thanks to the salve that she had taken to applying every morning. Loki was relieved when she had finally stopped—he did not enjoy someone else's hands around his neck, no matter their intentions. "Why are you alone here?"

The woman smiled as she sat down with her own meal. "I'm not alone, I have you."

He shook his head. "That's not what I mean. This seems like an awfully large farm for one person to work. You have clothing that clearly doesn't belong to you if it fits me, and you enough supplies in the basement to take care of at least a family of six for a year."

Loki could see that for a moment, Cassiopeia's smile was strained.

"Which, by the way, did you think I didn't notice you getting into my good wine?" She said, and left it at that.

He stood, down his water in his wooden cup, and then went to the cupboard he had been using as his hiding place for the open wine. If she knew, there was no point waiting for her to go to bed to drink it. He poured himself enough to fill his cup and slid it over to her.

"What did you have to trade for this?" He asked nodding to the near empty bottle.

Cassiopeia shrugged. "What do you mean? It's just wine. I sent a bunch of food along with some salvagers a year or so ago, and they gave me the wine. We don't have a lot of wine in these parts, so it seemed like a good trade. They said it was nice wine."

Loki stared at the woman, and not for the first time, got the feeling that she was lying to him. If she was, she was a very good liar—he could typically spot a lie from a league away. "Wars have been started over this wine, and that's absolutely not an exaggeration."

"Really?!" She replied, peaking up and snatching the bottle. She sniffed it and then shrugged, pouring it into her cup. She took a tentative taste and frowned. "I guess it's good. It just tastes like wine to me. I don't drink much wine though. It's hard—"

"—to come by. Yes, I got that. Seems odd that it would just be sitting in your basement, you understand?"

Cassiopeia frowned and calmly placed her hands down on either side of her plate. "Loki, if you're trying to accuse me of something, why don't you just say it? I don't understand what you're getting at."

Loki shook his head and took another drink. "I'm not accusing you of anything. I'm merely stating that you haven't been entirely open with your situation here."

"Do you think that perhaps that's because you've only bothered talking about yourself since you've come here?"

Ah there it was again, the same icy tone she had used on rare occasions in the past.

"If that is the case, I beg your forgiveness. I suppose I never quite learned to _grieve_ properly. But here we are. This seems a perfect chance to tell me about yourself, in depth."

In a flash, her passive expression had changed. She was smiling brightly. "Well, okay! I never get to talk about myself, this is terribly exciting. Let's see. I told you I was a war medic. I grew up on this farm with my parents and two brothers. The property has been on my father's side for generations. My mother was an herbalist who had spent time at the main trading post working with the doctors. There's a large tech hub there, but sometimes, good old herbalism saves the day. She taught me everything she knew. Then the wars happened. My brothers went off to fight, and they died. I went off to work as a medic, and I lived. I came back here and worked with my parents, until they also died. A few soldiers I knew from the war would come help out seasonally, but…"

"But?" Loki pressed, continuing to casually cut up his meat. He didn't want her to feel like she was being interrogated, but that was, in a way, what he was aiming for.

"After people started disappearing, I called them, but there was no answer. It took some work to find out, but… they didn't make. They're gone too now."

Loki sighed inwardly. Apparently the woman was one of the most average, boring people he could meet. "And the cat?"

"Oh yes. Kylepo was belonged to one of the soldiers. Like I said, I just couldn't let him go homeless."

In the back of his mind, Loki still felt that something didn't add up, but he couldn't quite place his finger one what it was. He hated feeling uneasy, but he supposed feeling something was better than nothing at this point. Besides, he was highly intelligent. He was sure he would eventually figure it out on his own.

"Don't forget, I have to go out into the fields tomorrow for some harvesting, so I won't be around to make you lunch. I'm sure you'll be able to handle that yourself, right?"

Loki nodded haphazardly and finished off his dinner.

"I should be home by dinner, but I'll make you another tincture just in case I'm late."

000

Cassiopeia was gone in the morning, just like she had said she would be. It left Loki alone long enough to head back down to the dark basement and do some more snooping. Something in the back of his head told him to do so, and not just for his own entertainment.

Upon further inspection of the basement, he made a few observations. The floor was merely dirt, so he could see a few indents where boxes had once been, and where they had been dragged. Loki began to methodically go through each of the boxes, careful to replace them just where he had found them.

For the most part, there wasn't anything particularly _interesting_ in most of the boxes. The only thing _interesting_ was the fact that they were from all over the galaxy—and some items seemed like they would have some value. Based on the condition of a few of the objects in containers, Loki was willing to make an educated guess that many of the items in the basement were salvaged—or scavenged, more likely.

Loki had no real love for scavengers. They picked through wrecks in space, claiming only the most important or useful items. Sometimes, they were willing to board stalled ships and rob them blind while there were still living inhabitants. Loki was not at all pleased to think that someone may have done that to the Asgardian ship, which was possibly how he was found. Did Cassiopeia know the type of people who were wiling to scavenge? Was she willingly dealing with them, regardless? It was generally outlawed to barter with scavengers, but who was to stop a handful of people in the middle of nowhere from doing just that?

Loki heard a rustling from the side, which caused him to turn around quickly. Instinctively, he called a summoned dagger to his hand, and didn't even realize it until he saw that there was no threat. It disappeared just after.

Kylepo had snuck down to the basement and was now sniffing around one of the boxes. He pawed at it and then sat down, starting at Loki. When Loki didn't move, the cat pawed at it again.

"What, I suppose there's a mouse in there or something that you want?"

The cat, Loki swore, let out a low meow in response, as if providing a confirmation.

"And I'm talking to a cat. Yes, good, great. This is a great sign, Loki, really," he muttered and walked up to the box the cat pawed at. The lid was nailed shut, unlike most of the boxes, and it took some work for Loki to tug the top off.

He wasn't sure what he was expecting to find, but a stack of clothing and pictures was not it. Kylepo stood on his hind legs and peered into the box. He poked his head in and pulled out one of the articles of clothing—a woman's blouse, by the looks of it. He dropped it on the floor again and paced around before lying on top of it. Then he began to whine.

"Perhaps your former owner's?" Loki said to the cat, but he was ignored. With a shake of his head, Loki reached into the box and pulled out one of the photos. It was Cassiopeia.

She was smiling in front of her house and holding Kylepo, who was just a kitten.

Loki frowned and looked between the picture and the cat. "And here I thought you hated her," he muttered. Kylepo growled and let out a hiss.

"I get the distinct feeling you're trying to tell me something," he said and raised a brow. Kylepo stared at him for a moment and then began whining, burying his head in the blouse. Loki shook his head again and went back towards browsing through the items.

It was strange, most of the pictures were pictures of Cassiopeia. Sometimes she was alone, sometimes she wasn't. Why would someone hide pictures of themselves? He had seen one of her with a group of people handing upstairs, but that was it, now that he thought about it. Gathering up a few of the pictures, some of which were framed, Loki walked them upstairs to get a better look at them.

He set them out on the table and rolled up the sleeves of his button down shirt as he looked over them. They appeared to be from a few different stages in Cassiopeia life. There was nothing particularly remarkable about them either. Family, friends, some sort of party… He stared at them for nearly half an hour before he finally noticed something about the photos.

Loki quickly hurried into the living room and took the photo off the wall. Cassiopeia was in it, presumably with her family. Her eyes were closed as she smiled brightly. He compared it to the other photos, all of which had her eyes open.

In all of those photos, she had very bright yellow eyes. Her family as well shared the same yellow eyes.

But he was one-hundred-percent certain that the woman he had been living with had _brown_ eyes.

Kylepo walked back out of the basement, the blouse in his mouth. Loki held up a picture to the cat and pointed. "That's Cassiopeia, right?"

The cat meowed loudly.

"That person, the one who's living here. That's _not_ her, is it?"

Kylepo hissed loudly. Loki nodded.

"Perfect. I've been deceived. What the fuck is going on here?"

And, he wondered as his eyes landed on his wooden cup, what was her plan for him?

000

 **Author's Notes:** I mean, this isn't like some big mystery story, but I don't like things to be too straight forward either. I do more mystery writing than other genres (if you've happened to read Ciao Poveglia, maybe you're familiar with my style.) Thanks for sticking with me thus far! I promise things are going to pick up. I do like to have a build up, rather than just throwing things and seeing what sticks!

 **xXCinderzXx:** Thank you for your review! I'm on the fence about romance because I generally don't write much of it, and even when I do, it tends to be tragic. I don't do happy endings, or at least, not fully happy endings… I'm not sure where this will go yet in that area, so we'll see what the people want, haha!

 **Whirlwind421:** Thank you for reviewing! The last few fics I did, I had a very devout group of people who made sure I kept updating, haha! Maybe you'll be one for this story!

 **Elenor GreanleEf:** One vote for romance! (Scribbles it down for future reference!) I hope that I can help revitalize you at least a little bit after the draining movie!

 **DXRULES103:** One vote for Loki/Strange. Wow, that's a category you don't see often! Of course, Strange has to come back to life….. Will Loki succeed?! Will he find a way to undo what Thanos did?! Next time on Loki, the Undying…. (Just kidding, that's going to be in like 30 chapters if we're lucky ;) )

Thank you everyone for your reviews!

Ever your servant,

A.F


	4. Chapter 4

Loki, the Undying

Rated: T

Summary: [Set immediately after Infinity War, Spoilers inside.] After his encounter with Thanos, Loki is found adrift in space. After finding that he is too late to attempt to help Thor save the universe, he is determined to find out the fate of his brother. After all, Loki is still the God of Mischief, and he may have a few, albeit drastic, tricks up his sleeve.

000

Loki's paranoia was through the roof by mid-afternoon, which, he decided, was just ridiculous. He was a god! He had survived Thanos! What could one woman, or, well, person, do to him? However, he was more concerned about _why_ she was caring for him. Certainly, it couldn't be out of the goodness of her heart. If she had taken such lengths to create a false identity, surely, she had something up her sleeve.

He had been staying with her for weeks at this point, and thus far, Cassiopeia had done nothing outwardly harmful towards him. She really _had_ healed his bruising, and he was gaining some magical abilities left… but that could have also have been his natural recovery time.

After discovering the photos, he paced around for a bit, occasionally glancing at Kylepo. How long would it have taken him to realize something was off without the stupid cat? How pathetic of him…

"Alright," Loki finally said, stopping to stare at the cat. "We're going to her room. Let's see what we can dig up."

The cat perked up and then raced across the house to the stairs, Loki following after him. Up they went and to the right they turned, heading for the master bedroom. He had never bothered to question it, but her door was always shut. Why _should_ he have worried? In any other case, he would say that there was nothing that a simple farm girl could have offered him.

Upon placing his hand on the knob, he found that it was locked. No matter, it was still a basic door, and he was past the point of hiding his snooping. He pushed his shoulder into it roughly, breaking the lock with relative ease.

For the most part, the bedroom was just a bedroom. There didn't seem to be anything outright suspicious in the room. He stepped in as Kylepo weaved through his legs, nearly tripping him. The cat didn't hesitate to jump on the bed and begin to shred the blankets and pillows. Loki merely shook his head and began checking drawers for anything of note.

The room wasn't particularly large, but nothing in the house was. There was a desk, however, against one of the windows. It was covered in leaf cuttings and ground powders. A mortar and pestle sat on the floor next to the desk, too big to sit with everything else on it—including a few books

Loki flipped through a few and found that they were herbalist books, which, he supposed, was hardly surprising.

One of the books, however, seemed to be deliberately in the middle of the pile, as if someone had tried to hide it in plain sight. The corner of one of the pages was folded over. Loki filled it open to the marked page and saw a drawing for a leafy green plant with blue veining.

 _Glorel: suppressant, often used to slow the effects of poison or disease. Glorel, in liquid form, acts as an inhibitor, targeting ailments unnatural to a body's chemical makeup. Extensive testing has shown negative side effect on species with natural healing, regenerative, or other advanced properties. Glorel is safe for use on most species._

Loki growled to himself and set the book down on the desk. He took a deep breath, and then tore the page out of the book. Cassiopeia, or _whoever the fuck she was_ , had some explaining to do. He shoved the torn page into his pocket and then closed the book. He tried to remain calm, knowing that when he did not—

Ah, it was too late. The temperature started to drop around him and Kylepo scurried out of the room. The window in front of him frosted over until it shattered completely. Deciding it wasn't worth it to hold his anger in, he reached down, tore the desk from against the wall, and tossed it to the side. It broke into large pieces and the contents of it spewed everywhere.

He turned, stomped out of the room, and decided to start packing up anything he wanted to take with him. He would be leaving his planet, one way or another.

000

"I'm home," Cassiopeia called out, "and in time for dinner too. Why are all of the lights out?"

The woman barely had the chance to walk into and flick on the light before Loki rushed from the side of the room. He grabbed her by her neck, his hands instantly beginning to turn his skin black from his Jotun skin, and held her against the wall. He knocked over a chair as he did so, which Kylepo jumped over to sit on the kitchen table. Apparently, he was a part of this interrogation as well.

"Please, you're hurting me!" Cassiopeia cried out, grabbing at Loki's wrists. He only succeeded in turning the skin on the palms of her hands blue and then black with each hit. "Loki!"

He held up the torn page of the herbalist book, waving it in her face. "You may be able to heal quickly, but if I choke the life out of you, you won't come back from that."

"You did," Cassiopeia choked out.

"I'm a _god_ ," he snapped, his face a mere inch away from hers, "you're just a deceitful wench."

Perhaps he underestimated his own strength. Cassiopeia gasped a few times, her brown eyes becoming bloodshot as he cut off her air. His stomach turned slightly, knowing exactly how she felt—the way her pulse pounded in her ears, the pressure building up in her skull, the tightness forming in her chest… But he was so angry—and not just at her, but at the world in general—that all he could do was watch as he strangled her. By the time he realized she was dead, her neck, collar, and cheeks were black.

He dropped her, and she hit the ground with a sickening thud, bouncing a bit. He backed away, dropping the paper, and putting his hands to his head.

"Dear Odin," he muttered and paced around. He had not meant to do that, he had _meant_ to scare her into submission. He wasn't used to his Jotun body, and it had been a very long time since he was in a fight with someone who couldn't take a punch from him. He really was a monster—a monstermonstermonster—

Kylepo growled and then hissed, but not at him. He was staring at Cassiopeia's fallen body.

Except, it wasn't Cassiopeia, or at least, not the form he had come to know.

There was a different woman on the ground now. Her frame was smaller than Cassiopeia's, and her clothes were now a bit baggy. Her hair was just as dark, but her neat braid was messy and coming apart. Most importantly, however, was that the black on her skin was disappearing, leaving behind pale, scar riddled skin. Bewildered, Loki turned on the lights in the living room so that he could shed more light on the corpse.

Once the black had completely disappeared, which hadn't taken more than a few minutes, there was a sudden gasp, causing Loki to jump backwards. Once again, his dagger materialized in his hand without him so much as thinking about it.

"Son of a—" Cassiopeia, or _whoever_ , slowly sat up, rubbing her neck. She coughed a few times and cleared her throat. "You know, I've been nothing but nice to you. How do you repay me? You kill me. Fantastic, thanks."

Loki stared at the woman, and then looked at Kylepo, who was backing away from her.

"What _are_ you?" He asked as she turned her brown eyes upon him.

"One of a kind," she replied bitterly and stood up, turning away from him a bit. She straightened her shirt and closed her eyes. Loki watched as her skin rippled, and she returned to the form of Cassiopeia once more. "Now listen, we could go back and forth all night, or, we could talk it out like grownups. How's that sound? Think you could handle that?"

Loki adjusted his grip on his dagger and licked his lips. Well, he was nothing if not adaptable… But he wasn't sure if he was happy or _worried_ to know that he hadn't killed her.

"Okay, great. I'm going to go grab another bottle of the wine. Absolutely killed me to not drink it around you. Damn good stuff, am I right?" She sighed and headed towards the basement door, stopping momentarily to make as if she were going to kick Kylepo. She didn't, but the cat went running. "I hate that beast. Too smart for its own good."

Loki contemplated running now that he had an opening, but even then, he wasn't sure to where. He didn't know where the closest town was—the Trading Post, as Cassiopeia has referred to it—or where there might be a vehicle to get to it. Finally, he sighed. He had survived Thanos. That's what he kept repeating to himself. He had survived Thanos.

The woman returned a few minutes later, two bottles in her hand. She set them on the kitchen table, grabbed an opener, and popped them both open. She walked into the living room and shoved one of the bottled into Loki's chest.

"Don't break it or I'll have to get you your child's cup," she said, a jab at the wooden cup he had been using, he supposed.

"What happened to the real Cassiopeia?" Loki asked, turning the bottle in his hands and taking a deep swig. He had watched her open it. It probably wasn't poisoned. The woman followed suit and dropped down onto the couch. She crossed her legs and threw her arm up on the back, reclining a bit.

Whoever this woman was in front of him…. She had done a very good job at impersonating another person. It was clear that her mannerisms, if natural, were drastically different from the timid persona he had met before.

She shrugged. "Dead. Disappeared, just like half the other people in the Universe I suppose. I didn't kill her, if that's what you're thinking."

"So you just, what, took over her life?"

The woman smirked, tilting her head to the side, "don't sound so judgmental, Loki Odin-son. I heard you did something rather similar before Asgard burned. I think we're birds of a feather."

"I'm nothing like you."

"Are you sure? You don't even know me."

"There's no one like me," he replied, his voice a low growl.

She smiled and shrugged. "There's no one like me, either. So there's that."

Loki set his dagger down on his lap, confident that he was the quicker of the two if it came down to a fight. He wiped his hand down his face and shook his head. "Who are you, really? And what am I doing here, really?"

"I don't have a name. Call me whatever you want," she replied and took another drink from her bottle of wine. She sighed contently. "Snagged this case from Sakaar, during the rebellion. Things got boring there once peace and order was introduced. It was far more fun when you were there."

Loki raised an eyebrow and sat up a bit straighter. "You were on Sakaar? While I was there?" He was about to say that he didn't recognize her, but of course he wouldn't. She was a shapeshifter of sorts, clearly.

"I was. We even chatted a few times. We'd have probably gone to bed together, had your brother not shown up. Don't feel bad, everybody did. I picked a beautiful form for Sakaar. Lived like a queen, for a while. But, like I said, it got boring. I hopped off the planet with some scavengers who had managed to get off the planet—did you know there was a pretty easy way out? It was a portal in the sky, like the others. The Grandmaster needed only to activate it—which he did. He got out of there as soon as everyone turned on him."

Obviously Loki did _not_ know that, or else that's how they would have slipped off the planet in the first time. Well, the past was the past…

"Scavengers? So, were you the one to find me in space then?"

"Sure was. I even killed my companions for you."

Loki looked at her in disbelief. "Oh, really now? And why would you do that?"

The woman shrugged. "They didn't want to bring you aboard. Planned to leave you there to die. I figured if it came to three nobody-scavengers or the Prince of Asgard, you'd fetch the bigger price. So I brought you do Cass. She really was a friend of mine. I dropped off loot for her periodically and stayed here from time to time. Knew she'd know how to bring you back from the brink of death. She did. Then she disappeared. I became Cassiopeia—thought you'd like her better."

Loki leaned forward a bit and rubbed his temple. "You know you sound insane right? You expect me to believe that not only have we met before, but you just happened to stumble upon me, then knew exactly where to take me to heal, and had the perfect cover because your friend just happened to get wiped out of existence? Awfully convenient."

"Fate is funny," she replied and raised her bottle. "Anyhow, I tried to suppress your magic for as long as possible til I could find a buyer for you. No such luck, as it turns out. No one believed I actually had you. Those what would want you, like the Collector, are apparently dead."

Loki jumped up, bottle of wine in one hand (it was really too valuable to drop), and dagger in the other. He took a step towards her, dagger aimed out in front of him. "So you admit freely that you were going to sell me? Are you insane?"

The woman shrugged. "Wanna put that dagger through my heart? Go for it, really. I'll just heal. I always do. But yeah, I admit it. My plan's gone to shit anyhow, so what's it matter?"

Muttering to himself, Loki paced around a bit before ultimately sitting back down in his chair. "Well, now what?"

"Now what?"

"Yes. What's your plan now?"

"Oh, I dunno," she replied and returned to her wine. "I figure I'll finish off most of this case of wine since Cass never touched in, go through all of the shit I've dropped off here over the years, figure out what I wanna take, and head out. My ship's probably close to being fully repaired by now."

Loki frowned deeply in annoyance. "You… have a ship."

"Of course I have a ship. I took it off the hands of the scavengers. That's how I got you here, remember?"

"I could have left at any point in this past month, and you hid it from me."

"Yeah, yeah. I tricked you. Bet you hate that, don't you? Anyhow, you were the one who was dead set on not leaving until you weren't blue. I just offered you a bit of encouragement to stay by inhibiting your magic. It'll be out of your system in a few days, I imagine. Then the rest is up to you." The woman stared at him, a small smile on her face. Loki hated it. He really did want to sink his dagger into her chest, but he wouldn't. Not until he had her ship, at the very least.

"I'm going to try to take your ship, you know that right?" Loki asked sitting back again in his chair and making himself comfortable. If this were going to turn into a game of wits, then he felt he had the upper hand.

"Of course. I think it's more likely I'll end up going along for the ride though."

"You think I'd let you?" He asked, amusement in his voice. As if he would…

"I think that if you're going to try to undo Thanos's work, you're going to need all the help you can get."

Loki's shoulders tensed and he looked away from her. He took a deep drink of his wine. _Damn it, she's right._

000

 **Author's Notes:** I generally have a sort of vague plan, and then I word vomit until I get there. And hey! This is what I came up with. Like I said. I like to reuse characters. This female character was rather well liked the last time around, but I felt like she was highly underutilized. I try very hard no to make her a mary-sue, and I now have a _very specific purpose_ for her (which currently isn't romance!) If you think you figure out what's going on, DO NOT post in a review! Feel free to PM me! _Don't_ worry. Lots of other canon characters to come. I anticipate this story to be somewhat lengthy.

 **Paid the Should-Be Avenger:** I'm so glad you reviewed. When I saw you set an alert/favorite, I was thinking "I really want to type out that pen name," it made me chuckle! No romance vote, got it! I feel like Loki would not be really 'romantic' unless he was fooling someone… But I feel like he would be possible for him to make 'a romantic connection', if that makes sense?

 **Zblue:** I agree… TEAM LOKI FOREVER!

 **XXCinderzXx:** Thank you for reviewing! Seeing that people are still reading helps me want to keep updating!

The Tribute Initiate: Haha! I admit, this wasn't my best, 'build up suspicion' as I more or less threw it in everyone's face… But this story isn't really a 'mystery' so why draw it out?

 **MidnightLokiLover** : #LokiDeservedBetter… sooo very true. Unfortunately Valkyrie I think is dead since she was on the Asgardian ship and Wanda… well, she went off into dust. So for you, I'll count that as a 'no romance' vote haha!

 **Optymistka** : You make a good point. Why have more Trauma? I have started to entertain how exactly I want this to end, and… it could be Bittersweet? I'm not sure. Haven't decided. Thank you for your review!

 **Henrytheshrimp** : Thank you for your review! I'm glad you're liking it so far! When it comes to 'connections,' I think, by the end of this story, Loki will have made some good connections/friendships/relationships. This will revolve around him, primarily from his limited point of view, and it will be about his continued growth. So, I hope I can make you happy in that regard!

 **SailingFXforGold:** Thank you for reviewing! I appreciate every one of them as it keeps me writing!

Ever Your Servant,

A.F


	5. Chapter 5

Loki, the Undying

Rated: T

Summary: [Set immediately after Infinity War, Spoilers inside.] After his encounter with Thanos, Loki is found adrift in space. After finding that he is too late to attempt to help Thor save the universe, he is determined to find out the fate of his brother. After all, Loki is still the God of Mischief, and he may have a few, albeit drastic, tricks up his sleeve.

000

Traveling with Nebula had been… Interesting, to say the least. Tony had been so worked up by the prospect of meeting Thanos and trying to make sure that Peter lived (what a failure he was), that he hadn't really absorbed the fact that he was in space. Again.

Nebula didn't talk much. In fact, most of her comments to him were about him talking too much. She seemed be running through scenarios in her mind, and if he were to guess, she was periodically cataloguing them based on the way she would randomly mention a series of numbers. He wondered how much of her was machine and how much of her was a person.

It was, admittedly, a bit unnerving to look at her. Sure, he had been around the Vision for a while (don't think about him, don't think about him, he's probably dead now too,) but Nebula wasn't the same. She had been a living, breathing person once, and apparently, she had slowly become a cyborg. A sick part of Tony wanted the chance to tinker around with her, but he figured he needed to wait until at least a drunken heart to heart before asking to poke around her brain.

To pass the time until they got to, well, wherever they were going, Tony did what he could to repair his suit. Nebula was actually fairly well equipped with spare parts in her ship, which he attributed to her proneness to taking physical damage. Of course, they had to move most of those items over to the ship they were actually traveling in—the one that belonged to Star-Lord.

Still, all of his distractions were not enough to make him forget the fact that the likelihood of going back to Earth was slim to none.

By the time they reached the Trading Post, Tony was eager to see some sort of civilization again—he also wouldn't have minded a shower, but he was aware of the fact that he had no form of currency now that he was off-planet. He supposed if Nebula was the sort to turn to crime, then he was too.

"Prepare for landing," Nebula said as they neared a planet. It looked beautiful from his view, but Tony was more interested in a nearby, larger planet with rings. Alas, they weren't stopping there. He sat down and buckled in, intrigued to see how a ship was supposed to properly land.

Nebula's piloting was smooth and clean, and the touch down had been similar to a quinjet. He knew it was safe to stand when Nebula unbuckled and left her chair.

"We'll need a few days for minor repairs, I can handle finding someone for that. Wear this. It's a universal translator. Getting a lab to agree to let us in will be harder than ship repaid," she said and pressed a button to unlatch the doors.

"I'm out of my territory here, so you point and I'll shoot, or whatever," Tony said and examined the little device she had given him. It was barely the side of a pea, but upon fitting it into his ear, it expanded. It was a bit uncomfortable, but he was sure he could get used to it.

Nebula raised a brow and nodded. "Good."

Tony had removed his Iron Man suit so that it rested in his housing core. He hoped that the nanotech would repair a bit faster if it was in its confines, but he wouldn't be sure until he tried it on again. Until that point, he was stuck in nothing more than his athleisure-wear. He felt practically naked, but upon walking off the ship, he found that there was really no need to worry.

The aliens looked fairly humanoid. They had tan skin, long, pointed ears, and bright yellow eyes. "So, uh, these peaceful people or…."

Nebula's mouth twitched in annoyance. "Yes. Mostly. They're primarily famers. Their tech is all here at the Trading Post."

"Uh-huh… And how fast would they have reinforcements if we started blasting our way into a lab?" Tony asked, stepping off the ship. A few of the locals glanced at him, appraised him, and turned away. Apparently he was nothing noteworthy.

For being _aliens_ , they all looked so… normal. He could identify the ship mechanics immediately—they wore grease covered clothing and carried boxes of tools. Some where laying on their backs under ships, welding torches in hand. In the distance, Tony spotted even more ships, but they seemed to be peacefully docked without anyone working on them.

"Identification?" Someone said from their left. Tony and Nebula turned to see an older male alien approaching them. He had a screen in his hand and was clicking about it.

"Newly acquired ship," Nebula replied and reached into her breast pocket. The man looked up at her, a brow raised. She withdrew a small piece of something—Tony couldn't tell what it was, but it did appear broken—and tossed it to the man. He looked it over, typed something else into his pad, and pocketed it.

"Got it. General repairs?"

Nebula nodded and started to walk away.

"So, to be clear, you just bribed the guy?" Tony asked, double stepping to catch up with the woman. She didn't say anything, but her lips twitched. Based on what he had determined from their time traveling together, that meant he was right, but she was annoyed with him. "Hey, I see nothing wrong with that. Just trying to pick up on the nuances in space. So how long do repairs typically take here? We talking a day? A week? I imagine we don't want to force our way in anywhere unless we have a plan to escape shortly after."

"At least a few days. It's a big ship and a moon crashed into it. We're lucky we got here."

Tony nodded slowly. Right. Lucky to get to the planet. Lucky to walk away from Thanos. Lucky to not have faded away into oblivion like his friends. Lucky.

"So what do we do now?" Tony asked as they turned by one of the buildings. Almost immediately it opened up into a main street. The further and further they went, the more it looked like a civilization he could identify with—shops and cafes, side markets and street performers. There were presumably parents holding the hands of children, and posters of people plastered to building sides—make shift memorials for the dead, it seemed. It was, all in all, what he would expect to see back on Earth.

"Now we make some money."

000

"If I had my magic, I could hide this in a pocket dimension," Loki muttered as he loaded up the clunky farm vehicle with the last of the valuables Cass had swiped from the house. "It would be so much easier…"

Just as promised, any sort of inhibitor was out of his system in just a few days. His Jotun coloring started to disappear, giving way to his pale Aesir skin. It was a slow process and there were patches on his body that had not yet changed—but it was unlikely that anyone would be seeing _those_ parts anytime soon so…

He didn't trust Cass, which he had conceded to call the woman since she failed to provide him with another name, but he didn't have much choice in the matter. His magic was extremely limited and he needed to get to a ship. He also knew he would need funds to use on his journey, at least until he could sweet talk his way into the circle of some benefactor.

Which is why he was currently doing the heavy lifting, moving anything that could be sold off at the Trading Post.

"No," he heard Cass say, but not to him, "damnit no! You're staying here! You're a beast, you'll survive."

Kylepo was trying to follow after Cass as she approached the vehicle, and she kept kicking at him, trying to get him to run off. The cat was too smart for that however. He move from side to side, staying just out of her range.

"He's clearly a house cat," Loki said with an annoyed sigh, "you can't just leave him here. You'll have to rehome him, or take him with us."

The look that the woman gave him over her sun glasses, which Loki assumed she wore to hide the fact that her brown eyes didn't match the yellow ones she was supposed to have, was one of murder. "I am _not_ taking this _thing_. He'll try to murder me in my sleep."

"Well, good thing you've made it quite clear that you can't _die_. Let him hop in and let's get going. I can't stand to look at this blasted farm any longer."

For a little while, having the chance to recover was nice. However now, with each day that passed, it was like there was an annoying itch that he couldn't scratch. He knew that he should be doing something, and even if he didn't know what that something was, it would be better to be out looking for it than sitting around twiddling his thumbs.

Cass muttered something in a language Loki wasn't familiar with and hopped up in the driver's seat. The vehicle had a large trunk bed that was closed in and stored all of their valuables, while the front section was open air with the exception of a near invisible windshield. Loki stepped to the side, holding onto his door so that Cass didn't get the idea to try to pull away without him, and let Kylepo jump inside the vehicle.

Soon, they were off.

Their trip was done in relative silence, except for occasional music cackling in through the stereo. For the most part they seemed to be out of range of anything good. After just a little bit of traveling, Loki started to feel better internally. He had a few short term goals, and it felt good to be on his way to accomplishing them.

It took almost all day before they reached the Trading Post. Loki recognized the area as a hub of activity. There were a few ships descending and docking for the night, and even a few local aerial vehicles parking. It was civilization and he immediately felt at home.

"Gonna get a room for the night," Cass said as they parked. "In the morning, I'm gonna drain Cass's savings accounts and convert it into galactic currency. You talk to the pop up market manager, get a booth, and unload our stuff—not the wine."

"Not the wine," Loki murmured in agreement. He was sure he could strike a few deals in his favor beyond that.

They exited the vehicle, Kylepo on Loki's heels. There was music and laughter coming from all around them as people sat down for a late dinner or drinks. Loki recognized the universal sign for shelter and pointed it out to Cass, who nodded in agreement. Down the street they went and into the multistory building.

A little bell sounded as they walked in, Cass trailing behind Loki. He didn't give her the opportunity to speak for him as he quickly walked up to the front desk. A woman, the same species as Cassiopeia, smiled at him.

"Good evening," she said, "can I help you?"

"Yes," Loki replied, returning the smile as he leaned slightly on the counter top. "We don't have prior reservations but we were hoping to get some rooms for the night."

The woman's eyes flicked over to Cass, who was still wearing her sunglasses, and then back to Loki. "Two rooms?"

"Yes, two rooms, if that isn't too much trouble," he said. Kylepo meowed loudly at his feet. "And, ah, one of which is animal friendly?"

"There is an extra charge for housing a lower species—you know, for cleanup incidentals. We have plenty of rooms, however. Not much tourist traffic these days."

Loki nodded solemnly, "yes, I imagine that's true. I expect we may be here for a few days, is that a problem?"

"No, no problem," the woman replied. She turned to a holographic screen in front of her and swiped about it, pulling up different screens. She raised her fingers to the sides of the screen and moved it over towards Loki. "If you could just fill this out and provide your payment information, I can get you checked in."

Loki smiled again and gave Cass a side glance. She stepped over to him, handed off a small card, half of which looked like a data chip, and then returned to staring at a poster on the wall. "Not a problem. I'll have this filled out in just a moment."

"Planning to leave without me?" Loki asked as he caught up with Cass just outside of their lodgings. Kylepo remained in the room with the promise of dinner. "How can you see in those things?"

"Practice," Cass replied, shoving her hands into her pockets. "No, I was not leaving without you. I just wanted to go get a drink without babysitting."

Loki's half smile disappeared as his eyes narrowed. "If you think you're _babysitting_ now, just wait until I have my full abilities back. I think I'll drive you quite _insane_."

Cass didn't respond. They fell into a chilly silence as they approached what appeared to be a bar. The woman entered first with Loki behind her, which was probably for the best because Loki likely would have tried to slam the door in her face.

"Listen, while we're here, just keep your head down. We can lie low and be gone—"

Loki was in the middle of rolling his eyes at Cass's words when he was caught off guard by a force to his chest that sent him flying backwards into the wall. A picture fell, cracking him on his head. While he looked around for the source of the power, he couldn't help but think that the sound it had made just before it hit him sounded like—

"You've got to be _fucking kidding me_ ," said a familiar voice, "half the universe is gone and _you're still here._ "

Patrons cleared the way, scrambling to get out of the path of a fight as a human form approached Loki. He wasn't sure if it was the hit to the head he had just taken or if the underworld had frozen over, but Loki was actually kind of _glad_ to see Tony Stark standing over him. Of course, it was clear that Tony did not feel the same.

… That much was evident by the barrage of repulsor blasts he felt hit his still-recovering body.

000

 **Author's notes:** And now two of the Avenger characters are together, wooh! Nebula and Cass aren't going away. Also, I know that if you think about it, the time line is a bit wonky, but, in my opinion, the time on Titan is all sorts of mess up as a result of the Time Stone being acquired on that planet. Besides, I imagine space travel takes longer than they lead us to believe in the MCU.

SupremeVegeta15: I haven't yet decided on the romance bit. I suppose I will have to see if the story takes me there! I have an idea for the ending and key scenes but the rest just sort of… word vomits out, ahaha! Thanks for your review!

xXCinderzXx: I am also keeping a countdown! (I keep sticky note countdowns on my computer screen. Helps me stay on task for big events!) I cannot wait for the next movie! Thanks for your review as always!

Whirlwind421: He still has a little bit longer to go on the planet, but soonish! I am notorious for my ability to fill an entire chapter with a very short amount of in-story time passing. (My story Ciao Poveglia took place pretty much over 4 days and it took me about 15 chapters to get through those four days!) Thank you for your review!

MidnightLokiLover: I'm glad you thought Loki was a badass, haha! I'm trying to balance out his desire to lash out with his growth and grief so that he has his moments but also forces himself to regain control. A mix between murderous and aloof. He has 'many faces' if you will. Thank you for reviewing!

Fan girl 666: Thank you for your review! I hope you'll stick with me as I continue!

Thanks for reading!

Ever Your Servant,

A.F


	6. Chapter 6

Loki, the Undying

Rated: T

Summary: [Set immediately after Infinity War, Spoilers inside.] After his encounter with Thanos, Loki is found adrift in space. After finding that he is too late to attempt to help Thor save the universe, he is determined to find out the fate of his brother. After all, Loki is still the God of Mischief, and he may have a few, albeit drastic, tricks up his sleeve.

000

No matter how hard he tried, Loki was unable to escape the repeated repulsor blasts aimed at his chest. Despite the hits being relatively low energy, leading him to believe that Stark was running on empty, he was rather sure he felt a sickening crack in his chest. Just what he needed: another place to divert his limited magic.

Loki grit his teeth and struggled to dive out of the way. It wasn't until a blue woman grabbed Stark's arm that he had the opportunity. He found cover behind a now vacated table and peaked below it, looking for Cass.

The bitch was getting a drink at the bar and ignoring him entirely!

"Are you just _really_ going to let me get attacked?!" He shouted over the chaos. She glanced over her shoulder and raised her glass. Loki snarled and forced himself to stand, pulling whatever energy he could into a dagger. He held it out, but knew that once he let go, that it. He probably couldn't summon up another one.

"So many people—so many good people—and you—you—" Stark couldn't seem to find the words. He held his arm out, but the blue woman was telling him to back off.

"—arm down or I'll—"

"Don't you think I know that—" Loki snapped, rubbing his chest with his free hand.

"—I'll put you where you belong—"

The woman had apparently had enough. In a quick moment, she twisted Stark's arm away, flipped him around, and then swept his legs out from under him. She pinned him down, subduing him just as bar patrons started to circle with their weapons.

"I've got him," the woman shouted, though no one put down their weapons. Loki wasn't at all surprised to find so many firearms on a planet filled with farmers. "Too much to drink."

"We're gonna have to get the Enforcers down here," the bartender warned, putting his own weapon down, "he damaged the wall!"

Loki rolled his eyes. Of course the bartender would be more concerned about a broken wall than an injured patron. He took a step towards Stark, who was sending a slew of insults his way, but the blue woman was quick to draw a weapon and turn on it him. He thought it over a moment and then set his dagger on the table next to him, raising his hands in surrender.

"I just want to talk," he said.

"Yeah? I don't think he does."

"Please—I imagine we have some common interests—"

"—I have _nothing_ in common with you—"

"Thanos?" Loki asked, raising a brow. At the name, Stark immediately stopped his struggling.

"Yeah, Thanos, you know, _your boss_ ," Stark spat out. The woman glared at Loki after Stark spoke, putting a bit more pressure on the trigger.

Loki clenched his jaw and flicked his eyes over the woman to Cass, who was sipping a cocktail. She gave him a little wave before resting her chin in her hand, watching the scene unfold. He swore that if there was a way to make her stay dead, he was going to find it.

"No, Thanos, the villain who _slaughtered Asgardians and tried to kill Thor in front of me._ I don't work for him—I—" he nervously touched his neck before quickly dropping his arm. "Look, Stark, I want to rule things, not _kill half the universe."_

"Just half the city of New York, where _I lived with_ —"

Loki groaned and put his head back. He looked over at the bartender. "How much to keep anyone from coming down here. It's a bar fight. We'll pay for the damages?"

"We will?" Cass asked form her spot at the bar. Loki glared at her.

" _Yes_ , we will. We don't want any more of a scene than we've already caused, do we?"

Cass scowled and shook her head. She reached into her back pocked and pulled out her currency card. She slid it across the bartender, who took it from her. In return, the bartender gave a nod to the patrons still standing by with weapons drawn. They seemed wary, but eventually backed down and returned to their seats.

"Stark, I know we have a rather bad history—"

"—the understatement of the—"

"But please. I tried to stop Thanos, I did. Thor did too—and clearly he failed. I don't know if anything can be done, but I have to _try_. If you're stuck here in space without any of your other Avenger friends, then I imagine that you're going to need as much help as you can get," Loki said, hoping his pleading would work. He may not have wanted to grovel to the human, but he was a good actor. He could play the kicked puppy if he needed to (and to be fair, he was really feeling like one at the moment.)

The blue woman looked down at Stark. "He's right. Two of us can't do anything against him. We couldn't do anything the last time. If he really did try to stop Thanos and lived—we could use that."

"He could be lying—he probably _is_ lying. That's what he does!"

Well, Loki obviously couldn't refute that.

"I just want to talk," Loki repeated, "preferably over a strong drink or five."

An hour later, the four of them were sitting around a table in the back corner of the bar, racking up a tab on the old Cassiopeia's currency card.

"You think that there are still Avengers on Earth?" Loki asked over this third drink and a plate of crispy, leafy snacks. Apparently, the planet ate a lot of vegetables, even at the bar. "All things considered?"

Stark was furiously shoving the crisps in his mouth like he hadn't eaten in days. Loki wondered how his fragile human body had even managed to survive so long—he wasn't even wearing his suit. He supposed it had to do with the woman, Nebula, and her familiarity with humans—apparently she even knew another one who had been traveling with her sister.

"Statistically speaking, yeah. Unless…. Well, unless he wiped the planet out while trying to take the last gem. I guess if that's the case…." He slowed long enough to shake his head and chug his drink. He winced at the taste, not being familiar with alien alcohol, and set his glass back down. He nodded over to Cass, who was looking at him over the rim of her sunglasses. "Anyhow, what's your deal, Cory Hart—what's your beef in the game?"

She shrugged. "I'm just along for the ride."

Stark laughed in fake belief, "oh, yeah, 'cause who doesn't want to go fight a guy who commands death."

"He doesn't command Death."

"Yeah, says someone who hasn't faced him," Stark said and raised his glass.

Cass shrugged. "Well, I guess I'm just the bank then. Any of you have money?"

Loki and Stark both looked away. Nebula's mouth twitched.

"Well, anyhow, what's our next step here? We're putting together a crack team—what are we, the, uh, Revengers?—and….. Great. Now what?" Stark asked as he finished his drink and waved down the server for another. They had kept Cass's card so she really was paying for everything.

"I suppose I thought I would find Thor. But, to be frank, that was more because I wanted to know if he was alive than any real plan. I am… open to suggestions," Loki replied. He rubbed his chest again, feeling the ache from Stark's repulsor blasts. He was in no condition to go into battle at the moment and—

"I say we find Thanos and take the stones back."

Loki practically spit out his drink. "You _what_?"

Stark went off on a train about getting the stones back, using their power to reverse Thanos's work then possibly destroying the stones. He laid out his rationalization in his usual snarky way, but Loki only bothered to half listen. He clenched his jaw and stared down at his glass.

Mortals. They always made things sound so _easy_.

Loki understood that Stark had fought Thanos with a gang of plucky outlaws and that he witnessed all of them disappear before his eyes. Loki, on the other hand, watched Thanos slaughter Asgardians in the most brutal of ways—Asgardians who, as a whole, were stronger than the five people with Stark.

"Stark, you do realize that the stones are only wieldable when they're contained, correct? Thanos destroyed their shells and now, without knowing how they were contain in the first place, we can't hope to just… take one," Loki said, earning him a glare in return.

"Well, Reindeer Games, _you_ do realize you're looking at a super genius, right? We just need to build new containers. We have pretty thorough research on both the Tesseract and the Stick of Destiny on Earth—and Strange—" Stark paused long enough to squeeze his eyes shut, "—well, maybe there's someone on Earth who knows the details of the Time Stone. If now, then I guess we're gonna have to steal the whole damn gauntlet. We aren't exactly on a time crunch now, so we have time to think up a plan and gather the heroes or whatever."

Loki fell silent and chewed the inside of his lip. Finally, he shrugged. "I suppose that if… If Thor _is_ alive, we may be able to count on him to be able to wield the gauntlet as a last effort. I imagine it's incredibly powerful and won't obey just anyone's whim."

Stark snorted. "So at least you're willing to admit that _you're_ not worthy."

"I'm just not suicidal," Loki replied and down the last of his drink, slamming the glass on the table roughly.

"So this place," Cass finally interjected, reclining in her chair. She had been silent for the majority of the conversation, her gaze switching between the two men, possibly preparing to stop a fight if it were to break out again. "Earth? Where exactly is it?"

000

"I do sincerely apologize madam, but I cannot accept less than fifty dens."

"Fifty-! Are you insane? I was on Conwa just the other week and they were selling these for _twenty_!"

Loki raised a brow and gave the woman—woman was a loose term, he only got lucky in his guess with the large, lizard like creature—a condescending look. With some of his customers, he remained polite. With this one, it seemed that the snootier he came off, the better. The creature clearly enjoyed pretending they were high class and the more pretentious he was, the more he drew her into him.

"I _assure_ you, they were not. Perhaps some… knock off? There are only one-hundred of these chalices in the galaxy, and I heard that a crate of them suffered destruction on their way to Katz, where they were destined for the planet's Supreme Leader's home. There can't be more than seventy left now! Look, you can see the maker's mark right here." He turned over the silver cup to show a small squiggle on the bottom.

The woman ooh'd and aww'd, and finally, she walked away with a set and Loki was one hundred dens richer.

The cup was a cup. The marking was something he etched in with his dagger. But hey, whatever convinced people to pay him—he'd take it. His duty, after wall, was to use his wonderful silver tongue to try to move as much of Cass's gathered loot as possible. After nearly an entire day of selling, he had done rather well, selling off almost half of the inventory.

As lowly as it was, he actually somewhat enjoyed the simple merchant life. Kylepo sat napping in the shade of their booth, though he sometimes went off to explore, occasionally bringing back a child trailing behind and a frantic parent chasing them. Loki swore the cat knew to go off and do it when no one had stopped at their booth for a while.

Loki had quickly found that trying to sell to the locals was useless. They were accustomed to travelers coming in and out, trying to sell overpriced knickknacks. The handful of people who were passing through for refueling or trading, however, were much easier to swindle. He admittedly enjoyed the attention he brought on himself, and he had a smug smile about the three pieces of paper in his pocket—papers with lovely young ladies' names and room numbers.

He practically felt like his old self—well, his old self off of Asgard and, perhaps, on Sakaar. Still. He was content.

"I think I should see about restocking," Loki mused as he waved down one of the walking vendors selling some sort of sweet meat on a stick. He bought two, sent the man away, and gave one of Kylepo. "I imagine we will get a rush right before dinner as people leave their rooms to walk about. Watch the table, won't you?"

The feline gave a pleased meow as he started to pull the meat off the stick. Loki gave a half smile and accepted that as his confirmation. He left their booth from the back and slipped between the small area between their stall and the next stall to walk down the main drag. He placed his hands behind his back idly as he strolled down the way, which was becoming slowly more crowded with people. He had seen much of what everyone had to offer already, but it was relaxing to just observe everyone and everything in their peaceful surroundings.

Loki turned and headed to where Cass had parked their vehicle. He hadn't seen the woman all day, but she was, presumably, closing out Cassiopeia's bank account and then going with Stark and Nebula to the laboratory. They had decided that they would simply walk in—behind Cass, who had taken on the form of one of the workers. To do so, however, she needed time to scout out a person and learn their mannerisms. She could only copy someone she had seen before, as it turned out.

He was quite content to have a day away from her. He had not yet come to terms with her essentially kidnapping him (yes, she did pull him from the vast expanse of space…) and keeping him hostage in a farm house for a month.

As he pulled the last create from the back of the truck, one in which he hadn't opened as it was already loaded on when she pulled the vehicle up to the house, he realized that his path to forgiveness was _a very long one_.

Loki set the top of the crate on the truck bed and stared down at the contents of the long box. He clenched his jaw and swallowed hard before kneeling down to go through the items.

Asgardian weapons.

Asgardian armor.

Asgardian clothing.

Asgardian toys.

Had Cass pulled these off of the bodies of his people? Even if they weren't _really_ his people, they were in the end. They fought together. They (mostly) died together. There weren't any Asgardians left, except for the few that had been stationed on other realms during the Fall. The things, these innocuous items, were all that were left of those people.

And she had scavenged them off their corpses. Those poor souls, who didn't receive the funeral rites they were owed, couldn't even have their dignity preserved in death.

It was clear to Loki that he had not yet dealt with his grief as he stared down at the items in the crate. He had not yet accepted the part that he may have ultimately played in Asgard's demise. He was not yet ready to move on and let go of the people he may or may not have been able to save.

He felt a swell of magic surge up inside of him, and when he closed the crate once more—his hands trembling in anger and agony-it was empty.

000

Author's Notes: I'm sure it's the fact that I'm tired, but I actually got a bit emotional writing the end of this! I don't know if came across though, ugh. I want this story to be a Loki-development story and not just "Loki and Tony: Space D&D!" Also, I do want to make it clear that the reader probably shouldn't really like Cass—they should be annoyed, aggravated, and possibly angry with her. Loki is, after all. She isn't supposed to be likable.

Zblue: Thank you for your review! Tony will be very prominent from here on out =)

KnightLawn: Thank you for reviewing! I appreciate it!

SummerMistedD: Tony is going to be an interesting character to write do to a lot of internal dilemmas going on, haha!

Chibitamaora: I'm taking theories and ideas I have about the next movie and working them in… So who knows, maybe I'll come close on some things!

TheAngelicPyro: I appreciate your pun ;) thank you for reviewing!

Victoria: thank you for your review!

Rowanoak: Thanks for your review! I hope you'll continue reading!

ACVideoDepot: I hope it wasn't lackluster. Tony is in a 'weird place' mentally. And physically. He needs all the help he can get to get home.

xXCinderzXx: I imagine there will be other people who have similar reactions if they see Loki again, haha! I imagine tony would have been a lot *worse* if Loki had turned up on earth first and not in space.

Whirlwind421: Loki in mythology has, uh, quite the connection with animals, haha! I figured he needed a companion who would just like him for him. Even if it was an animal. Haha!

Fan-de-carlisle-cullen: Tony came soooo dang close in the movie. Stupid Starlord. With a good crew (and Loki) maybe he can finish the job!

Gelado Pocket-mouse: thank you for reviewing! I hope you will stick with me as the story progresses!

MidnightLokiLover: Thank you so much! I have found I enjoy writing for male characters more than female, so I'm having a lot of fun with Loki. Also, I feel like a lot of people enjoy seeing him be a bit more on the serious side, especially when it comes to introspective review, which I prefer to write. Thanks for your review!

OtherwordlyStarlight: I do know that Loki said he didn't want to rule in Thor, however I feel that after everything he's been through and survived, he does now want to rule—or at least convined himself he was owed that. (He did suggest to Thor that they take over Sakaar, after all.) He has gone through a great deal of emotional trauma and rejection, and I don't think he's recovered from that, so he seeks to prove himself a god in other ways—hence ruling. As far as the All Tongue—for the purpose of this story, there are things that even the ancient language can't pick up. There are some things that aren't meant to be translated, but I can't go into that further at the moment. You'll see what I mean by the end of the story ;). Thank you for your reviews! I appreciate someone who is paying attention to the details!

Thank you everyone for your reviews! I am getting a bit slower on the updates due to some other projects due, but I will still aim to update at least once a week!

Ever Your Servant,

A.F


	7. Chapter 7

Loki, the Undying

Rated: T

Summary: [Set immediately after Infinity War, Spoilers inside.] After his encounter with Thanos, Loki is found adrift in space. After finding that he is too late to attempt to help Thor save the universe, he is determined to find out the fate of his brother. After all, Loki is still the God of Mischief, and he may have a few, albeit drastic, tricks up his sleeve.

000

Loki sat on a chair near the widow is Cass's room, his long fingers intertwined with one another as he waited for the woman to return. He had contemplated jumping her in the dark again and threatening her, but he assumed he wouldn't be able to get away with that trick twice. He was sure his thought was correct as she opened the door and walked in—he could see that she had a small knife in hand, though she was trying to subtly hide it from view.

"From what I understand," she said airily with a wave of her free hand, "most people would surprise a woman in her room with a fine drink—not weapons. I suppose I should appreciate the gesture regardless?"

Loki's lips pressed together in a thin line as his hands tightened, fighting the urge to lash out at the woman. He had indeed littered her bed with weapons—the Asgardian weapons he had found in her vehicle.

"You thought to sell off the last of Asgardian culture? Did you think I would not notice that you had them stashed away? Tell me, did you strip them from the corpses yourself, or did you have your _companions_ do it for you, before you killed them?"

Cass rolled her eyes, her own expression turning to one of annoyance. "Please, Loki, don't act so offended. I've picked many battlefields clean, taking those that I've wanted, for a very long time. Your Asgardians were no different."

Before Loki could give it another thought, he was suddenly across the room, his body teleporting himself in front of her instantly. However in that brief moment, she raised her small, needle night knife to his neck—and he a summoned dagger to her abdomen. "I may be forced to work with you for now, but I swear to you, I will find a way to kill you—and when I do, you'll stay in Death quite permanently."

Cass's mouth twitched slightly. "You swear? You've made quite a few vows you haven't been able to keep, haven't you Loki? Your threat seems rather empty."

"I'll make good on this one."

"I rather hope that you do." Cass lowered her weapon and took a step back.

Loki stared at her for a moment, contemplating burying his blade into her stomach anyhow, just to relieve his anger. Ultimately he decided against it. It would not do to turn to bloodshed. If he did, there may be the chance in the future that he could not control himself—and control, in his opinion, is what he really needed the most right now. He stepped back as well, but continued staring down at Cass, his eyes flashing with the emotions he felt.

"Now, if you will, gather up your toys and leave my room. I've had a terribly exhausting day dealing with Stark. I just want to go to bed."

With a wave of his hands, the weapons that Loki had spread about disappeared, returning to the pocket dimension he often kept his valuables in. He would not admit it, but he was quite tired as well. Using so much magic in such a short amount of time had exhausted him. He needed to sleep as well. Cass side stepped to let him through the door.

Loki kept his head held high while he exited and walked down the hallway, but once he was in his room, his shoulders dropped and he swayed. He barely managed to sit down on his bed before the room started spinning. He put his head in his hand and squeezed his eyes shut, trying to regain his bearings. Kylepo meowed from across the room and then jumped on the bed, rubbing against Loki.

"I just need a moment," he sighed, and the cat acquiesced, sitting down and pressing himself against Loki's back.

The room felt incredibly warm, signaling that his Jotun powers starting to show through once more. Loki exhaled deeply and sat straight, setting about to stripping out of his clothes for the night. He just needed a good night of sleep, and he would be back to normal in the morning.

000

"There's a new pod in my ship."

"Your ship? I thought you stole it."

"I _salvaged_ it," Nebula replied dryly, staring at Cass from the corner of her eye. "You don't get to go making changes to it."

Cass sighed loudly and crossed her arms. "And here I thought you'd be _happy_ that I pawned my ship to resupply yours. I was just trying to be nice and here I am being made the villain again…"

"That's because anyone who voluntarily saves Reindeer Games from dying in space is _definitely_ evil," Stark said as he walked up to the two squabbling women. "Or his brother, and you don't seem to be a god so…"

"No, I suppose I don't," Cass replied.

"You're all rather irritating, you know that?" Loki said and tested the access panel. The door to the ship opened without a problem and Kylepo jumped inside. Loki was not particularly impressed with the Milano, and it seemed like it would be quite cramped with four of them and a cat, but it was better than nothing. If it got him to Thor, then he would suffer the lowly quarters.

Cass had sold her ship to a scrapper to get an escape pod put into their ship, figuring it would be better to have one and travel together than to travel separately. Loki quietly agreed, knowing that if they had a pod on their ship when Thanos attacked, they may have had a chance to get at least some people off before the massacre.

"Feeling's mutual," Stark replied, clapping and rubbing his hands together. "So, we ready to do this?"

"Yes. Loki will wait here with the ship and have it ready for takeoff. We'll go to the lab, get in, do what we need to do, and head straight back here. We should be able to get off planet before anyone can catch us if things go bad," Nebula replied.

Loki turned sharply, his brows deeply furrowed. "Pardon, I'll do _what_?"

Nebula shrugged, "someone needs to watch the ship and make sure we can immediately launch. More than likely, this isn't going to end well."

"And why does it have to be me?"

Stark rolled his eyes dramatically, making Loki want to punch him in his face. "Because, Shakespeare, Cass needs to do her shapeshifting thing, I need to repair my nanobots, and Blue here wants to take my tech. You're the unnecessary one. Stay here and watch the ship with the cat thing. Can't be too hard can it?"

000

"What do you think?" Loki asked, leaning back in the captain's chair. He had his legs kicked up and very _delicately_ resting on the control panel in front of him with his fingers laced together behind his head. "Should we just leave without them?"

Kylepo was curled up in a cubby hole a level below him. For whatever reason, there seemed to be a large number of leaves just lying about. Kylepo was content enough to gather them up and make a bed of them. At least _he_ was making the best of a bad situation. He cracked his eye open and gave Loki a bored _meow_. Loki sighed and closed his eyes.

"I know. No funds, no course, no plan. It would be foolish to try to take on Thanos alone. That didn't work out very well for me the last time, after all."

Loki had been idly sitting in the ship waiting for his _comrades_ to return. He wondered how things were going in the lab, but it had been radio silent. He assumed that if they were on the verge of being captured, they would have alerted him—then he could comfortably leave knowing that it was really in the best interest of the universe to go on without them. Until then, however, he was bored.

A bored Loki was typically not a good thing. He had already managed to comb through most of the ship where he found a set of devices he recognized from earth—music players. He had fooled around with it for a bit before he figured out how to turn it on and was promptly blasted with very loud, very bad music, in his opinion. Earth had some rather good music, he had to admit-but they were generally wordless with lovely instrumentals.

He broke the device trying to turn it off. Woops. He stuffed it in a drawer and hoped Nebula wouldn't notice. He figured it was from the ship's previous owners anyhow.

The living quarters were terribly small which made him a bit anxious over the coming trip. He liked his space—he didn't like people touching him. There were only two bunks to sleep in, which meant that they would be sleeping in shifts, which, really, was reasonable. If he was fortunate, he could pair up with Nebula's shift, that way wasn't stuck with someone he either wanted to tear out their throat, or someone who wanted to tear out _his_ throat. He certainly didn't trust Stark not to try to murder him in his sleep.

Just as Loki was considering playing with the wiring to change the voice of the autopilot program, there was sound coming through the ship's speakers.

" _Get ready for immediate take off,"_ came Nebula's voice.

Loki pressed the communications button to respond. "We haven't put in a request for take off. Shall I do that?"

" _No time. We were caught. Going to have to do an unauthorized lift-off."_

He couldn't help but crack a small smile. Things had, apparently, gone more or less how he had expected them. Loki hurried to buckle himself into the captain's chair and pulled up the local navigation screen. Though it had taken him a few hours to figure out the controls, he was pleased to find that the ship was very similar in design to others he had piloted.

Though the engines were running, Loki made it a point to keep them a minimum output so that he wouldn't draw too much attention to himself. It took nearly fifteen minutes before his crew came running on board, hurrying to close the door behind them.

Stark ran on first, looking more or less the same as ever—but his suit was now repairing itself, which was good because he had a cut on his forehead which looked like he had been thrown against something. Cass was on next, wearing a bloody and partially burned lab coat. She was missing a very large chunk of flesh from her left forearm—he could see her bone. Cass muttered something under her breath, and he noticed once again that he couldn't understand her, much to his confusion. He couldn't think of a known language that he didn't _know…_ but then he supposed if he knew an unknown language then it wouldn't be unknown and then…

Loki sighed and shook the thought from his head.

Nebula's shoulder was damaged, but Loki could see that it was working to repair itself, very similarly to Stark's suit. Loki supposed that it meant that their endeavors had been successful, at least until a point. The group hurried to strap into seats as the ship was hit with a few blasts, probably from handheld weapons.

" _You not have clearance for takeoff,_ " said a voice over their intercom. " _I repeat, you do not have clearance for takeoff."_

"We'll just turn this off, yes?" Loki said and flipped the communication line to closed.

"Get us out of here, Horns, we're gonna be bombarded any minute now," said Stark lowly, adjusting himself in his seat.

Loki rolled his eyes but grabbed hold of the thrusters. "Ladies and Gentlemen, please fasten your seatbelts, this certainly won't be smooth." He switched into flight mode and pulled back, quickly sending the ship lurching forward with increased engine output. He wouldn't be surprised if he took out a few of their would-be attackers in doing so. Woops again.

It took him a few seconds to become accustomed to the controls, but they were in the air within moments and then heading upwards to leave the atmosphere. Just as they were exiting, a ship left in pursuit.

"Let's see what sort of power this ship has," Loki said with a smirk and kicked up the output one more notched. The ship went rocketing forward, practically leaving the other ship behind in the dust. "It might be a bit cramped, but I think I'll quite like this ship."

Nebula groaned. "That's great, now prep for a jump and let's get out of this dingy quadrant."

"With pleasure," Loki replied his smirk widening.

It had taken him some time, but he finally managed to get off the planet. He smiled in satisfaction as he was surrounded by the stars once more. He had feared that they may have been an unwelcomed sight, after his last experience. Yet he found relieved-comforted even.

He had a ship, he had a crew, and he had funds. Now, he just needed a solid plan. Things were starting to come along nicely—for once.

000

 _ **Author's Notes:**_ Um… Ehehe… Hi, guys! So…. this chapter has been written for about six months (or more). But I didn't have the next one done so I didn't post it. My goal was to try to always have two chapters ready to go. I just… Lost inspiration. Things have been crazy in my life, and I know that isn't a good excuse. Things may not be getting better either. But, the new Avengers trailer dropped today, and I figured… Maybe a few chapters as a Christmas present? Apparently there are still readers out there.

Friendly reminder that I don't have a Beta reader and may miss some mistakes!

Thank you to all of my readers! **TigerInTheMoonlight, ZeroNoGame, AndurilofTolkien, Zephyr169, Rowanoak, Whirlwind421, microscope, SummerMistedDragon, Fan Girl 666, Kate 3, and Guests!**

 **MirandaStonelight:** there may be some Loki/Cass moments-but it's more like "damnit, we're the only one of our kinds, I really hate you, but hey, let's get drunk!" Or, something like that. If I get to the ending… well, hopefully a lot will fit together, haha!

 **xXCinderzXx:** It's been so long since I watched Ragnorok that I need to put some good thought into the Bruce/Loki/Tony reunion!

 **MidnightLokilover** : I swear I wrote this whole chapter before I saw your review about wanting to stab Cass!

 **:** Peter's. I know it's cliche but that's the one I bawled at. Also, Groot. But you're right, the fact that Sam was alone was particularly sad.

 **Natalie Rushman:** I'm glad you like Cass in the "I really love to hate you" kind of way! Female OCs are always hard because people generally don't want to give them a chance, but I swear she serves a VERY IMPORTANT ROLE. (Beyond the fact that it's hard for people to hate Loki when there's someone even more unlikable around, haha!)

 **AliciaRoseFantasy:** Despite how it may seem, Tony has NOT forgiven Loki and their history will likely be a point of contention for the rest of the story. However when you feel very small in space… The deeds on Earth seem very far away ;) Thank you for your lovely review!

Here's to hoping I have another chapter soon.

Ever Your Servant,

A.F.


	8. Chapter 8

Loki, the Undying

Rated: T

Summary: [Set immediately after Infinity War, Spoilers inside.] After his encounter with Thanos, Loki is found adrift in space. After finding that he is too late to attempt to help Thor save the universe, he is determined to find out the fate of his brother. After all, Loki is still the God of Mischeif, and he may have a few, albeit drastic, tricks up his sleeve.

000

"You've been awfully quiet there, Reindeer Games," Tony said from behind Loki. Loki didn't even grace him with a glance.

The two had hardly spoken beyond whatever was required of them. Nebula had become the defacto captain, which, Loki supposed, was fair since it was her commandeered ship. Loki, of course, would have very much liked to be declared their fearless leader—but he knew that it wasn't possible. He was far from fearless. And as history had repeatedly shown him, he was not a leader.

That was, ultimately, why he had chosen to wait in the ship as directed and wait for his fellow crew mates in the first place. He couldn't fix the universe on his own. Tony and Nebula had gone head to head with Thanos and fared better than himself. Cass… well, Cass couldn't die, apparently, and surely that would be useful.

He needed them. As Thor had once said, life was about change, and he always stayed the same. He needed to be more, to be better.

"And what, pray tell, do you want me to say?" Loki replied and clasped his hands behind his back.

Tony shrugged, which Loki should see in the reflection of the window, "I dunno. You like to hear yourself talk."

"What's the saying? Pot calling the Kettle something?"

"That's fair. We've been traveling for a while though, and hardly a peep. Seems too long for someone like you, so I figure you must be scheming." Tony dropped down into one of the cushioned chairs and kicked his leg up before idly tapping the clear screen in front of him. They had a few days to go before they would hit their first destination—a crime ridden satellite where they could buy the drive to jump towards Earth.

Loki gave a soft chuckle. "You don't know a thing about me, Stark. A week without speaking is nothing. A month without speaking is nothing. I fell from the bi-frost twice—the second time I was fortunate enough to land on a planet that suited me quite well. The first… I was not."

"Forgive me if I'm not sympathetic. Your discomfort is, honestly, my preference," Tony said with a snort.

Loki exhaled and closed his eyes. He didn't satisfy Tony with a response. They remained in silence for a few minutes before Tony spoke again.

"So, what about the first time?"

"There's no point in having this conversation, Stark, you don't want to hear what I have to say, and I don't want to talk about it." Loki's hands were clasped behind his back and his fingers twitched. He would have liked to flee, but there was nowhere to go. They were too tightly cramped on their small ship.

Tony let out a frustrated sound and roughly pushed the screen to the side. He jumped up and put his hands on his head, pulling a bit at his hair. "You're right, I don't _care_ what you have to say, but damnit, I have to _hear_ it. I am stuck on this fucking ship with you, I have to stare at you every waking moment, and I can't—I can't do anything about it! You killed _so_ many innocent people. You brought the mind stone to Earth and whatever destruction Thanos might have caused, it's _your fault_."

Loki finally turned around, a brow raised at the human. "Would it make you feel better if you hit me?"

"Yes!" Tony shouted, but then looked away. "Well, maybe."

With a sigh, Loki let his hands drop to his side. "Here, free shot."

He wasn't sure what he expected—maybe that Stark would be a bigger man? Tony didn't hesitate to lash out, landing a few hits to Loki's face and stomach. What was mostly irrirating was how fast he had managed to summon up his Iron Man armor, which covered his fists almost instantly. Loki allowed Stark a few hits before he grabbed the man's collar and threw him to the side.

"You cheated."

"You're the God of Mischief!"

Loki groaned and wiped a bit of blood away from his lip and nose. He'd heal.

They fell back into silence.

"Did you ever stop to think that the only reason Thanos would have sent me to Earth to retrieve one gem while intrusting me with another gem was because he controlled me?" Loki said when Tony didn't leave for another part of the ship.

Tony snorted. "Yeah, pass the blame to someone else."

Loki balled his hand into a fist and hit the side of the ship, leaving a bit of a dent. "I am to blame… for a lot of things. I am the reason Thanos killed the remaining Asgardians before my desire for power compelled me to steal the Tesseract from Odin's vault instead of leaving it to burn with the rest of Asgard. I am the reason that Asgard fell in the first place—because my desire for power sent Odin to Earth, and so he was unable to warn us that Thor's sister was going to rise and destroy our home. I am the reason that the Mind Stone ended up on Earth, because my desire for power and—" he swallowed down the word _love_ because that was not a side he wished to reveal to _Tony Stark_ "—the crown, caused me to fall from Asgard and straight into Thanos's clutches… "

He turned away and looked out once more over the expanse of space, which once again made him feel so incredibly small.

"I have no desire to describe to you what happened when Thanos found me. I know all about you, and I know you have some familiarity with being held captive. Unlike humans, Asgardians, and Jotuns, are _very hard to kill_ and Thanos got creative. In the end, I wasn't strong enough to resist him."

Loki rubbed his brow. These were things he wanted to say to Thor but never had the chance. Now, he may never have the opportunity to make amends. He had learned too late what was truly in his heart.

Tony—Tony laughed. Loki clenched his jaw, a rage flaring up inside of him. He told the truth, and Stark had the audacity to _laugh_.

"Yeah, poor you. Poor, poor _you_. You feel bad, so now you should be forgiven right? Well you know what, maybe I could have bought some of that but… Here you are. So many good people are dead. Thanos wiped out half of the universe, and somehow, you're still here. I think you just pity yourself because even _death_ doesn't want you." Tony shook his head, continuing to chuckle. He sat back down in his chair. There was no where else to go.

Loki chewed his lip and squeezed his eyes shut. He wasn't going to get into a fight—he wasn't going to risk destroying the ship. He's pretend Stark was his brother, who needed to be treated like a child. The only problem was that Stark was so much smarter and knew just the right buttons to push…

"I'm going to bed." Loki hissed out and stalked away, using every ounce of strength he could muster to keep his Jotun power from freezing very delicate controls in the ship.

"Cass," Loki whispered, trying not to wake up Nebula, "go entertain Stark. It's my resting shift."

"Should have thought about that before expending your magic to clean up after Kylepo instead of doing it by hand, and sleeping for eight extra hours because of it, keeping me up for a twenty four hour shift," Cass replied lowly, her lips barely moving and her eyes still closed.

"You'll be fine; move."

"No."

"I will take this pillow and suffocate—"

"Shut up, both of you," Nebula snapped. She didn't sleep often, but she needed reboot her systems from time to time.

Loki looked at the door to the sleeping quarters and then back at Cass. If he went back into the main cabin, he was stuck with Stark. Stared down at Cass, who was wearing a tank top with plenty of exposed skin. His lips curled into a nasty smirk. He pulled off his tunic and shoved Cass to the far side of the bunk, which was actually fairly large and probably made for another large race. He smashed her against the wall and she groaned.

"Why are you such a child…"

"I'll freeze you out."

Loki made a point to make himself comfortable, elbowing her in the back on no less than three occasions since she was on her side, facing the wall. He dropped his Aesir cover and allowed his blue skin to take over.

He did not love his Jotun form, but he could not deny when he allowed it to show, he felt… light. As if, for at least a little while, the burdens he carried disappeared with his disguise.

Though he had expected Cass to get frustrated with the bitter cold against her back, he wasn't bothered. He could hear her breath steady as she fell back to sleep, completely ignoring the fact that her skin was ever shifting from black to tan where his skin touched hers.

Loki stayed, stretched out, albeit with one of his long legs draped over the side and touching the floor. He was asleep in minutes, feeling more mentally exhausted than he had expected.

000

"I think I'll feel right at home here," Loki said thoughtfully as they exited their ship. "Kylepo, watch the ship. Maul anyone who tries to steal it or something." The feline meowed and turned from the door to go back towards his little bed.

"You know," Tony said, "I think I'm back in my element as well. This is practically Vegas."

The satellite, actually a huge asteroid circling a dead planet, was called FeWeiZ-91, was filled with music, street vendors, and towering buildings. There were neon lights in every which way, and the sounds of celebration.

"Watch your valuables," Nebula said as she led the way.

To be able to do long distance jumping in capable ships, coordinate drivers needed to be installed. Those driver could be purchased from reputable sources, but those drivers could only be sold between friendly sectors. To get to earth, which was considered remote and undeveloped, required an illegal driver. They would need to find a dealer to sell to them—and, unfortunately, their funds were limited.

"So, we'll need to gamble, that sounds exciting," Tony said as they strolled through the streets. "How much money do we have?"

"You don't know the rate, so what's the point in giving you the total?" Nebula asked.

"That's a good point. Alright, so, clothes."

"Clothes?" Nebula asked, "we need to fuel up, make minor repairs, and buy the driver. And you want clothes?"

Tony rolled his eyes. "We're going to need, like, a large sum, right? Pretty high? Look at us. We're a ragtag group up drifters. They aren't going to let us into any of the places we can make real money, are they?"

"I hate to admit it, but he has a point. People tend to take you seriously when you look the part," Loki replied.

"Once we're passed the outer district, there should be a street of shops. Mostly stolen and resold goods. Should be able to find something there," Cass said.

"You didn't mention you've been here," Loki said.

Cass shrugged. "I've passed through. "

Nebula sighed. "Alright. Fine. I'm going to find a dealer. You do your _shopping_ and fill our account."

Loki clapped his hands together and smiled. "You know, I think this will be quite fun. Finally, a break from our cramped quarters." The further they walked into civilization, the straighter Loki stood. After months of relative solitude on a dingy planet and then too long on a ship, he was back in his element. Perhaps there was a chance he could feel normal again.

000

 **Author's Notes:** So, I actually started to write a different chapter. I talked to my husband, who I bounce ideas off of, and he agreed that space travel was made too easy in Infinity War—but then the trailer for Endgame made it seem harder. We're going with the longer, harder route. It's Loki and Tony, DnD in Spaaaacceeee! There will be some chapters of their adventures in space before they get to earth. Also, there will not be a shopping montage.

On the note of Loki and Cass. Yes, please keep hating Cass. No, this isn't going to turn into a romance story, I promise. There may be 'moments' but it isn't going to take over the story. If you get to the end, and if I write it, hopefully you will feel satisfied with how things turn out. A few things to keep in mind—Loki is a shapeshifter too, and as far as we can tell, no one has ever touched him—really touched him, since they couldn't touch his Jotun form. Part of the role Cass plays is to help him accept himself so he can, as Thor said in Ragnorok, grow and be better.

If you have any thoughts on Cass's motives, please feel free to message me. I would love to see how early someone puts the pieces together.

Thank you to those super quick reviewers! I didn't give you a lot of time before posting again, haha!

 **theFGnat:** I am still alive! Here's to hoping I don't lose motivation so fast again and fall off the face of the earth!

 **MirandaStonelight:** Honestly it was partially your review that made me go in a different direction. I had been waffling between if there should be space stuff or if we should go to earth, but it should be a journey. Loki needs to build up his confidence again before he shows up on earth and faces down the rest of the Avengers! I'm glad you hate Cass but in a good way ;) Thank you for your review!

 **Zephyr169:** haha! You literally got your review in just as I was about to post! I do imagine that more often than not, Nebula and Tony have shifts together because they both know each other's motivations, having fought Thanos together. But, if there's anything I know from DnD, it's that sometimes the Sorcerer uses up all of his spell slots and needs to switch up the shifts to recover, haha!

Guest: Of course I knew that there would be people who hate Cass in the other, not so good way. Hey, I get it. She isn't going to be for everyone. If you stick around to the very end, hopefully you'll like how it all turns out.

Thanks everyone for reading!


	9. Chapter 9

Loki, the Undying

Rated: T

Summary: [Set immediately after Infinity War, Spoilers inside.] After his encounter with Thanos, Loki is found adrift in space. After finding that he is too late to attempt to help Thor save the universe, he is determined to find out the fate of his brother. After all, Loki is still the God of Mischief, and he may have a few, albeit drastic, tricks up his sleeve.

000

It took Loki a matter of hours to go from petty gambling to the high roller's floor. He hadn't had need to go shop for new clothing, as spending some time in his Jotun form had drastically replenished his magic to the point where he was starting to feel normal again. He walked through a few of the 'high end' stores, which mostly meant the shops that had the nicest, stolen goods, and decided what was considered expensive. He used his magic change his plain clothing to look something like the Grandmaster's outfits—but of course, in black and green.

"—Ah yes, I have been to the Versante belt, spent some time in the palace… My brother got so inebriated that he ran through the gardens during the queen's birthday tea, totally, stark naked. I might have encouraged it and—"

Ah, yes, he was doing what he did best. He had managed to get himself into a VIP booth and was entertaining a group of people, all of whom had quite a bit of money. Each time they would set down their chips, which were used as currency in the casino, he would swipe one or two. Sitting in his pocket dimension, he had a small stack, which he could exchange for funds.

Tony, well, Tony was also enjoying himself. Perhaps a bit too much… he had bought himself a fancy outfit and he was sitting at once of the tables. He had pointedly stayed in eyeshot of Loki, though Loki had managed to make it to the high roller's area first. Tony had followed no long after, having hit it big on the lower floors.

Though he started off strong, he had started drinking. Loki couldn't necessarily blame the man—he had a _lot_ weighing him down, and being in a den of sin had possibly brought out the worse. Loki had reluctantly resigned himself to keeping an eye on Stark, just in case.

Cass… Loki had no idea where she had gone. She had paid for Stark's clothes, given him a cache of credits, and disappeared. She could be anywhere—she could be right next to him.

For a brief moment, Loki considered the possibility that he could stay on the satellite for a while. He could get himself in with someone rich and powerful, hop a ride to another system, start a new life… He could forget about Thanos and move forward. Have the life he always wanted… But as he looked around and saw that there were many empty booths, booths that had likely once been packed filled with people, he knew that he could not.

He had to set right what he started.

"What's wrong?" A woman, with teal skin, dressed in silver with fancy jewelry, placed her hand on Loki's cheek and turned his head so she would look at him. "You look so serious."

Loki smiled and took her hand, running his thumb in a gentle circle on her palm. "Nothing is wrong, love, just making sure we have the best seat in the house."

"Now, now, don't hog him!" Another woman, the same species, slid into the open spot next to him. He laughed loudly, causing the two women to laugh along with him. "Waitress! More drinks!" She second woman wrapped an arm around Loki and waved down one of the scantily clad servers, who were pink with antenna. The server approached and held out her tray, and both of Loki's companions dropped chips on it.

"You know," said the second woman, "if you wanted, we could go to the _next_ floor. I can get us in."

"Oh?" Loki said, "and what's up there?"

The first woman giggled. "You'll have to wait and see."

As much as Loki would have liked to go on an adventure with the two lovely ladies, his eyes landed on Stark. Tony's chip pile was awfully low and he seemed to be shouting at the dealer.

"Ah, well," Loki said, somewhat reluctantly, "as _endearing_ as that sounds, I rather like it here. Besides, we have drinks coming!"

The drinks never came. Though Loki considered waving another server down, he never got the chance. Eventually, Stark hit his limit and unfortunately, he was somewhere where his name meant nothing.

There was a crash, which caught Loki's attention. Tony's Ironman suit was starting to cover him as a male worked to stand up from the ground. There was broken glass around him. "I may be new around here," Tony shouted, "but I know a cheat when I see one. You think I don't see what you're all doing?"

One of the security guards, a large, rock like creature similar to Korg, took a few steps closer. Tony turned his repulsors on the guard. That only brought two more security guards.

"Ladies, as much as I've enjoyed your company, it seems our time here has come to an end." Loki said, to begging for him to stay, he smiled and pulled them off of him, sternly but gently. They followed after him but stopped when he dove into the mix of security guards and pulled Tony out by the collar. "Sorry, sorry! We're leaving! Yes, yes, I just—hey, I'm just trying to help—no, I didn't do anything for once—"

Loki's attempt at a good deed, rescuing the human from a pile of aliens, turned into a bar fight.

Tony sent one of the guards flying, Loki kicked one in the back of the knee, knocking him to the ground. Fighting erupted as a few people made grabs for chips in the chaos, including Loki, and out the duo went. Loki and Tony ran for the door, throwing tables behind them and grabbing whatever valuables they could.

"Exit's blocked," Tony shouted, "door to the right!"

Loki sent a simulacrum to the exit door while he and Loki turned to the right, heading for a staff door. They ended up in a small kitchen and knocked a chef down. The two of them pushed their way through until they found an employee set of stairs. Loki grabbed an employee who was walking up and threw him to the side so that he and Tony could run down.

Out the back door they went and they didn't stop until they were two blocks away, hiding behind a stall with strange fried eggs.

"For Odin's sake… I didn't even get to cash in my chips!" Loki said, leaning back on the ally wall with a thud. He let his clothes change back to their normal, plain state. "Don't tell me you lost everything."

"I was fine, you know, you didn't need to pull me out of there. I would have handled it myself," Tony said, throwing his arms up and pacing around, "but yeah, it's gone. It was rigged. I calculated the statistical outcome, and they were altering the results. Every third roll, one of the dice would land on the star, which isn't possible, and—"

"Chips, please."

Tony's rant was cut off as one of the servers from the casino walked from the dark and held out her tray.

"Uh, what?" Tony asked. She wasn't looking at him, she was looking at Loki.

"Chips," she said, wiggling her tray in front of Loki. He stared at the pink server for a moment and then realized that her eyes were brown. The other had all had red eyes. She had been the one who took the chips for his drinks, but hadn't returned.

"Oh, I should have seen that sooner," Loki sighed and shook his head. He waved his hand and all of the chips he had swiped throughout the night appeared on her tray. It was a rather hefty stack. Without a word, the server turned on her heel and went back down the ally. "So, hungry?"

And thus, Tony Stark sat down with Loki Odinson on a bench at the stand with fried eggs. A half hour later, Cass sat down next to them and ordered.

"Do you think we got enough?" Loki asked between bites.

Cass shrugged. "Hopefully. If not," she unclasped the top of her slightly baggy coat and showed off a fancy necklace. Loki recognized it as one that one of his companions was wearing. "This should cover the difference."

"I am working with thieves," Tony muttered, eating his second bowl. Apparently he enjoyed it more than the space rations they had been eating on the ship. Who could blame him.

Loki let himself discreetly smile for a moment before focusing on his food again. His night had actually be quite fun, and it was even better knowing that no one was going to chastise him for using his sleight of hand to benefit their party. Now, they just needed to meet up with Nebula.

000

They returned to the ship to find that Nebula was waiting for them. She had found a seller but couldn't get a meeting with him until the next day. They drew straws to see who would get the pleasant task of waiting with the ship over night—Cass drew the short straw. She swore under her breath but agreed to stay, as long as Loki took Kylepo. He agreed and was honestly quite content with the company of the cat—he liked Kylepo better than he liked the woman.

They found an Inn that was hardly suitable, but neither Loki nor Tony felt the desire to argue with Nebula. The hope of having their own rooms with some short lived privacy, even in a 'shady motel' as Tony called it, was better than staying yet another night on the ship. The three of them checked in but then ventured around the corner to a nearly empty bar playing what Loki equated to low jazz music.

"How did you meet Cass," Nebula asked, interrupting their silence. She wasn't interested in conversation, and Stark had his head in his hands. Alien alcohol wasn't sitting well with him.

"She pulled me from the wreckage for the Asgardian ship, apparently."

"Thanos left you alive?"

Loki shifted uncomfortably. He felt a phantom pain in his throat as he gulped down his drink. "Well, no, I don't think intentionally. I was… very nearly dead. She was with scavengers who came to pick the wreckage clean." He decided not to mention that they _had_ combed through the corpses and taken anything valuable. It would only make him angry.

"Hm." Nebula tapped the side of her glass, knocking a chunk of ice to the bottom.

"You clearly have more thoughts on the matter."

"I don't know what she is," she replied.

"What do you mean?" Loki asked.

"I have a database of species. I can look at someone and determine their species and place of origin. I can't determine what she is."

"What about me?" Loki asked somewhat softly. "Can you look at me and tell what I am, even when I'm hiding?"

Nebula turned her head to eye him up and down. He could see her pupils dilate for a moment and she shrugged. "It isn't totally accurate. I cannot tell you're a Jotun like this. You read as Aesir, however my data suggests you're a mutation."

Loki hadn't expected to be called a _mutation_ and he found himself offended. Tony snorted.

"You'd think you'd be called a mutation when you were _blue_ ," he said and reached for his drink. Loki had wisely asked their bartender for something non-alcholic. They would need to stock up on water for the human, who needed it more than the other three travelers.

"Watch it," Nebula snapped. "Blue is a fairly common species color."

"Doesn't make it any less weird," Tony muttered.

"It does, your human mind is just incapable of accepting what's different from itself."

"One of my best friends is green!"

"No," Loki replied, tilting his glass towards Stark, "you're friends with Banner, who looks like you. I get along better with the Hulk than you do, these days."

Tony looked up at Loki through somewhat squinted eyes, clearly bewildered. Loki smirked and chuckled lowly.

"Ah, I see he didn't tell you too much about his role in saving Asgard or the brief time spent on our ship before Thanos…" Loki sighed, "well, nevermind. Stories for a different day. I'm going to turn in before the cat takes over my bed. Tomorrow then?"

"Tomorrow. Get Cass before lunch for the meeting," Nebula said.

"Why do I have to get her?" Loki balked as he stood and pushed his chair in.

"She's your rescuer. She's your problem."

000

 **Author's Notes:** Eh, the ending isn't exciting. Just wanted to drop some information. Also, if you're familiar with Sailor Moon, I picture the bar as the bar the Amazon Trio chills in when sorting through targets, with the same sax music in the background all of the time. This story is just going to some strange places. DnD in spppaaaceeeee. I'm anticipating 2 to 3 more chapters in space. If I keep my current pace, they should be on Earth by the end of next week =)

Thank you everyone for your reviews! **Siart22, GreenSand, Rowanoak, Loftcat27, and xXCinderzXx**

Ever Your Servant,

A.F


	10. Chapter 10

Loki, the Undying

Rated: T

Summary: [Set immediately after Infinity War, Spoilers inside.] After his encounter with Thanos, Loki is found adrift in space. After finding that he is too late to attempt to help Thor save the universe, he is determined to find out the fate of his brother. After all, Loki is still the God of Mischief, and he may have a few, albeit drastic, tricks up his sleeve.

000

"Cass!" Loki shouted, pounding on the door. "Why is the door locked? You were here _alone_!"

He had done his duty and returned to the ship to get Cass and drop off Kylepo in the event they needed to make a quick getaway again. He hoped that it wouldn't be the case—the ships on the satellite were certainly equipped to give chase if it came down to it. However upon returning, he found that Cass had locked herself in the sleeping quarters, which was strange because they never locked the door.

Loki had started to put in the bypass code, which had had figured out one night when he was bored, when the door slid open with a hiss. The room was dark, but Cass's brown eyes shined up at him. It caught him so off guard that he stepped back. "What are you doing? We have our appointment with the seller."

"Feels better to sleep without a disguise," Cass replied, her voice quiet. "You know how it is."

Loki frowned. He didn't like her implication that they were even remotely similar. "So you locked the door? There was no one else here."

Ash shrugged and stepped into the light of the main chamber, grabbing her slightly over sized jacket from the back of one of the seats. "I didn't want you to see when you came in."

Kylepo swatted at her as she walked by the other seat he had jumped up on, but she slapped his paw away. Loki watched as she walked towards the exit, shrugging on her jacket. As she stepped outside, he took a peek into the room, verified that nothing was amiss, and followed after her. He had seen her in what he assumed as her _true form_ when he had accidentally killed her back on the farm. Albeit for only a moment and in the dark. He knew she was small framed, with messy black hair, and scarred—but he hadn't gotten that good a look at her. Perhaps she was really quite hideous—it would certain reflect her attitude.

She walked ahead of him at a casual pace that he could have caught up to, but he did not. He preferred to stay a few paces behind her so that there was no chance of conversation. They went to their meeting place, the stand with the fried eggs, and ate a quick lunch. Tony still wasn't doing well.

"I haven't been this hung over since college after homecoming week," he muttered and picked at his food.

"What did you think alien alcohol was going to do to you?" Cass asked and placed her order.

"I dunno. You live and you learn, I guess."

"Your weak human form can't take much. You may be doing less living if you aren't careful." Cass replied.

Their appointment wasn't far away. There was a large, impressive looking building—and they were right across from it, in a warehouse. Nebula led them to the entrance, which she was presumably familiar with. There were large, imposing guards standing at the door, and they pat each one of the four travelers down to ensure they weren't carrying any weapons—though it was pretty much useless since Loki could summon up weapons as he pleased and Nebula practically _was_ a weapon. Then there was Tony and his housing unit for his Ironman suit. No one could tell that he was well armed either. Overall, they looked entirely inconspicuous.

Still, they pat them down, one by one. Nebula got a fairly quick pat down, perhaps too quick—one of the guards looked rather uncomfortable. If Loki were to guess, they had tried to be more thorough the last time Nebula had walked through, and it hadn't ended well.

Tony was next. "Bet this your favorite part of the job, isn't it big guy. Search away. I'm clean."

They made Cass take off her jacket. It was too big and she was rather petite. It hid too much. With a loud sigh, she pulled the baggy jacket off, held her hands out, and showed that there was nothing in her tanktop.

Loki brought up the rear. They pat him down, which he was not pleased about, but of course, they made things awkward. As they patted up his leg, they stopped and patted again. "Not a gun, mate," Loki replied in irritation.

All three of his companions turned around to look at him, Nebula and Tony raising brows at him.

"I'm a literal giant, if you've forgotten. Take that into consideration while you imagine my anatomy."

"God, this puts so many images in my head that I _so_ did not want," Tony said and walked ahead with Nebula.

"Now, now, Stark, no need for envy, it isn't your fault that humans are so… tiny," Loki replied and trailed after the team , a small smirk dancing on his lips. Tony muttered about his playboy status on Earth, but Loki chose not to respond.

The warehouse entrance led into a small entryway with a woman sitting behind a window. She had what Loki equated to horn rimmed glasses and hair in a curved updo. She hummed at them when they entered, but pressed something that sounded a buzzer and opened the double doors for the group. Another guard met them just passed the double doors and led them through the open warehouse—where Loki was quite certain some sort of drug was being refined by rows of workers—and to a metal staircase.

Up they went to an office that overlooked the warehouse.

The office was filled with monitors that zoomed into different areas, presumably watching the workers. There was a large, brushed metal desk with a short, squat creature who had a very large, protruding jaw with unnecessarily large fangs.

"You got the funds, Blue?"

"Fifteen hundred creds, as agreed upon," Nebula replied. She reached into one of the front pockets of her jacket and pulled out a currency driver. The creature, Mister Mordrax according to the name plate, held out his hands. "Driver first."

"What do you think, that I'm just going to take your word for it? Not a chance, sweetheart, gotta verify that first."

"What insurance do we have that you aren't going to drain the chip and claim it's empty?" Loki asked, knowing full well what he would do in the same cirmcumstances.

"None," Mister Mordrax responded in a bark, "but I'm a honorable businessman, and doing back on my word is bad for business."

"Says someone refining Banow for mercenary missiles," Cass muttered and hopped up onto the ledge of the window to watch the workers. "Think you're losing one of them over there—yup, the green one just collapsed."

The short creature behind the desk growled and reached over to a control panel to zoom into one of the aisles, and indeed, one of the workers was on the ground. He pressed an intercom and gave a codeword, which Loki assumed would send someone to take care of the downed worker. "If you have a problem with my business, feel free to leave. Good luck finding someone with the driver to get to such a backwater sector."

Nebula threw the chip down and Mister Mordrax took it. He popped it into a small machine to verify the funds on the chip.

While he did, Loki glanced over at Cass and then at the screens, watching as one of the guards came out to grab the fallen worker and drag them to the back. Banow was metal found in certain asteroid belts that was shaved down to but in missiles with a reactive compound. When they hit their target, it unleashed a deadly gas that corroded the lungs and eyes in seconds, and destroyed the body of its victims if let to sit.

It was generally only used by mercenaries, since it was banned in intergalactic conventions, but incredibly effective in warfare regardless.

Loki knew what it was since he was involved in politics from a young age—but he couldn't identify it by a simple walk by. He found it… curious… that Cass picked up on it.

"It's good," Mordtrax grunted. He opened one of his desk drawers and slid another driver, about half the length of Loki's palm, over to Nebula. She took it, looked it over, and put it into her breast pocket. She did not thank him.

Nebula stood and started towards the door, but Loki did not follow.

"That's a DL3 driver," Loki said, causing Nebula to stop. "They have the silver connectors. What does our ship run on?"

He could hear the woman groan under her breath. "DS9."

"Not surprising," Mister Mordrax said, a slight smirk on his face—it was hardly flattering with his large jaw and fangs. "No one uses DL3s anymore. You're going to need a converter."

"How much is that going to cost, Grumpy?" Tony asked, flopping down into a chair. "Boy am I having flashbacks to my arms dealing days… Any chance you're interested in reforming."

"Not at all. Another fifteen-hundred will do."

There was a collective groan. "Fifteen-hundred? We just gave you everything we had. We don't even have the funds to try to make more," Nebula snapped. She turned around and slammed her hands down on the desk. Her metal pieces clanked loudly.

Mister Mordrax placed his hand over a large red button and raised a brow at her, clearly threatening to call in his goons. Though Loki was confident they could take them on, that wouldn't help them get the converter. Nebula stared him down, and he caressed the button. With a growl, she stood up and turned around, giving a nod to Cass.

From her oversized jacket, Cass pulled out the stolen necklace and tossed it onto the desk. It slid across the metal and Mordrax caught it.

"Not bad… but still not going to cut it. Still need a thousand."

Loki sighed and turned around. He wasn't eager to show off how far his magic had recovered but…

"What kind of scam are you running?" Tony snapped, "you could have told us _before_ we came back. At least then we would have had the chance to get what you wanted. What do you want us to do to make up the difference, huh?"

Mordrax chuckled. "Well, I'm down an employee… Pull a few shifts in my warehouse and—"

"Not a chance," Tony growled, "we won't be part of manufacturing missiles or whatever you're doing."

"Well then, good luck—"

"We'll give you this," Loki said, and held out a bottle of wine. It was one of the last Revvyat bottles that he and Cass had taken with them. He had two stashed in his pocket dimension with the Asgardian weapons, but he hadn't wanted to reveal he had access to it.

Cass jumped off of her spot on the ledge, "that isn't _yours_ to trade." She scowled at him and quite honestly, it made Loki grin.

"And my people's belongings weren't _yours_ to take, so you have no room to speak. A bottle of Revvyat wine for the converter," Loki said and took a step forward. He set it on the desk but did not let go of the neck of the bottle, even as Mordrax tried to take it.

"This can't be real."

"I assure you it is. I've had the pleasure of consuming some of its sister bottles," Loki said and rotated the bottle a bit so that Mordrax could see the label.

He inspected it, his grubby little fingers twitching. He growled. "Two bottles."

"No," both Loki and Cass said simultaneously.

"One bottle, or we leave and we'll find a buyer for it. As you can imagine, it won't be hard to find a buyer to give us _at least_ fifteen hundred creds." Loki pulled the bottle a bit, but Mordrax wasn't letting go. "Do we have a deal?"

Mordrax eyes his red button.

"I assure you, we are far more competent than we look, and I'm sure you wouldn't want any trouble to spill out into your warehouse," Loki said, looking down at Mordrax, who looked back at him with an angry glint in his eyes. "We don't want trouble. We just want to get to our destination."

The two had a stare down for a few moments, but ultimately Loki didn't threaten. It was Mordrax who released the bottle and opened his drawer once more. He pulled out a small device, which Loki recognized as the appropriate converter. He slid it forward a bit and Loki slid the bottle towards Mister Mordrax. It was a tense exchange, but Loki was far quicker than the short creature and took the converter before Mordrax could attempt to take it back.

"Pleasure doing business with you," Loki said and waved his hand. With a brief shimmer, the converter disappeared. He gave a nod to Nebula, who went to the door without a moment's pause. It was best to get out of there before Mordrax could think to stop them.

He did not stand, but the monitors changed to focus on them as they left. Mordrax watched them intently as they quickly exited the warehouse.

"Pick up the pace, they're following us," Nebula said as they headed down an alleyway. Mordrax may not have been keen to have a fight in his place of business, but now that they were clear, all bets were off.

Tony tapped his housing unit for his nano tech, and soon both his hands and arms were covered in armor, ready for a fight. Loki summoned two daggers, just in case. Nebula moved the driver to a slot in her arm, which was a bit unnerving to see, and prepared for hand to hand combat since she had to leave her weapons behind. Cass did nothing. She casually strolled through the alley, hands in her pockets.

They had only managed to get a few blocked before they were cut off from both sides.

"Keep moving forward, better to put them all behind us and get to the ship. How fast can we take off?" Tony asked, sending a repulsor blast as one of the goons in front of them. He went down quickly, not expecting such a blast from someone who was supposed to be unarmed. Loki threw his two daggers forward and downed the second one. Nebula ran forward and jumped, punching the first one square between the eyes as he attempted to stand again. Loki retrieved his daggers to save from continuously summoning new ones and turned, throwing them at the two goons running at them from behind. It hit one in the chest, stopping him, and hit the second in the shoulder—slowing, but not stopping the goon entirely.

There were more uniformed individuals following them, but the alleyway opened up to a main street and there was going to be collateral damage very quickly.

"I'll get the ship ready. Don't get too beat up, kids," Cass said and side stepped into the main street.

"What, you're leaving us!?" Loki snapped, but Cass was gone. Her clothes were laying in the street way, and there was a _caw_ above him. He glanced up to see a large, black bird soaring over their heads in the direction of the shipyard. "Useless, little…"

It was so much harder to fight when he was being conscious of the people around him. He shoved individuals to the ground, left and right, trying to keep them out of the way as weapons blasted at his back. One of them hit him as he shoved a child into a stand, burning his shoulder. He hissed and unleashed a barrage of daggers in anger, taking down three attackers.

If he could simply _not care_ then it would be so much easier… But he had seen enough death for a while and wasn't interested in being the reason for bloodshed for even more. Nebula got separated from him and Stark, but he was confident she could get back on her own. The majority of the goons had gone after him anyhow, since he was the one with the wine that Mordrax wanted anyhow.

It took much longer than he would have liked, but they made it. The ship was ready to go, Cass was sitting unclothed in one of the pilot's chairs, waiting for them. Nebula was coming into the shipyard from another entrance, with goons on her trail. Loki and Tony ran back outside, sending daggers and repulsor blasts to the attackers, dodging blasts as they went. A chunk of Nebula's leg was badly burned and she was having problems running.

Loki created a simulacrum and sent it near to her, diverting some of the attacks to his false form, giving her enough of an opening to make a dash for the ship.

Soon, they were on board, and Cass was closing up the entrance.

"I'm just going to jump in a random direction. We'll load the driver when we're clear," Cass said, and that was all the warning they got before the ship lurched forward, sending them crashing into the back wall. Having to do a quick lift off from their spot with little room to properly thrust was not smooth, but Cass managed. Just as they were about to clear the satellite, there was a jolt as something hit them.

"They're shooting at us," Nebula shouted.

"Jumping in three, two, one," Cass replied calmly and then they were gone.

Loki hoped that they would be able to have a normal take off from at least one of their stops, but he knew they wouldn't be so lucky. It seemed fate was trying to stop them, though, perhaps, fate wasn't trying very hard at all.

000

 **Author's Notes:** I've been pretty good about posting every dayish for a bit, but that may be going away. I will... do my best not to disappear again for six months! Unfortunately, once I start something new, I tend do go at it full force until I get bored, so... That tends to eat up my drive to work on other projects. Anyhow, Loki may not be the pilot/party leader (that's left to Nebula who has the most experience with space travel and navigating the seedy underworld discreetly.) However based on how easily he could pilot different ships without much time to learn, I do figure he has extensive flight knowledge. If you're wondering why Loki still feels the need to conserve his magic-it's be cause he is not in top shape. But, since he does not know the reason for that, you, the reader, do not know that either. A planned scene should explain it, however. Remember that Tony is only human, and though Peter Quill is as well, he has some exceptional parentage. Tony is totally at a disadvantage when it comes to dealing with alien life.

 **Loftcat27:** the fact that you've gone through like everyone of my Avengers stories and reviewed gives me a good chuckle! Thank you for those! Hopefully you feel like my writing has improved over the years! (The first one was posted over six years ago! I've come a long way, I think...) Thank you for sticking with me! I hope you'll enjoy where this heads!

 **Trickstertales:** I'm glad you're enjoying the story! The first chapter was on the short and sweet side, so I can understand why some people may not have been inclined to stay! If you enjoy a paced story, then hopefully this will be up your alley! Thanks for your review!

Thank you to all of the other readers as well! I hope to have something else posted in the next few days!

Ever Your Servant,

A.F


	11. Chapter 11

Loki, the Undying

Rated: T

Summary: [Set immediately after Infinity War, Spoilers inside.] After his encounter with Thanos, Loki is found adrift in space. After finding that he is too late to attempt to help Thor save the universe, he is determined to find out the fate of his brother. After all, Loki is still the God of Mischief, and he may have a few, albeit drastic, tricks up his sleeve.

000

Though they managed to clear the satellite and even head in the right direction by chance, the Milano was damaged. It wasn't severe, but it was enough that Nebula wasn't comfortable jumping a large distance again without having the chance to makes sure vital pieces of the ship were repaired. Tony was confident that his nanotech could patch up any holes, but they would need to land first since he couldn't risk leaving holes in his own suit by giving away too many of his little nanos.

"It looks like there's a planet coming up that we should be able to land on. The driver doesn't have much data, and there are no active communication lines, but it does appear that this had some small settlements at one time or another," Loki said as he zoomed in on a nearby planet. Their converted driver pulled up a few images of an arid environment with a rather low population. Loki suspected it was rather outdated.

"Are there any landing guides or would we be flying blind?" Nebula asked.

"It… appears that there are _some_ which would make it far easier for us and would minimize any further damage upon entering the atmosphere, but I don't think we'll be getting any help. Though, if you think that's a problem, then Earth is _certainly_ going to be an issue. They are severely lacking in technology," Loki replied and sat back, letting Nebula lean over and poke around the screen.

"Hey! Not _all_ of Earth," Tony snapped from behind Loki.

"Fine, _most_ of Earth is lacking, is that better? It doesn't change the fact that there will be no prepared area for an incoming ship."

"That didn't stop Thanos's lackies from just… popping on into New York," Tony muttered.

"Thanos's main ship was as large as Asgard," Loki replied bitterly, "we're in a small vessel made for roguish antics. So, Nebula, would you like to take the controls, or shall I show off my impressive piloting abilities?"

"Move."

Loki obliged, but mostly because he was more willing to prepare himself for a rough landing from a passenger seat than be distracted with the controls. Nebula took over and lined them up with an old, outdated landing path as specified by their driver, and down they went.

It was a bit rough and there was a scratching sound that Loki didn't particularly like—most likely indicating a further need for repairs. But after they cleared the clouds, they found that the surface was large bare and flat, with little in their way. Nebula piloted quite expertly, and their touchdown was practically feather soft, all things considered.

"We can't stay too long," Nebula said, "we don't have enough rations for an extended trip, and there isn't much between here and Earth."

"If we kill and eat you Cass, will you come back from that?" Loki said, a brow raised. He was disappointed to find her reaction wasn't one of total disgust.

"The last group that tried that found I didn't taste very good and quickly died from eating rancid meat. I imagine a Jotun and a Human wouldn't fare much better," she said and unbuckled herself from her seat. Tony was staring at her, his jaw a bit agape as if trying to determine if she was serious.

"Horns said you couldn't die… Seriously? Someone tried to eat you?"

"Many have. I've been around for a very long time."

"As appetizing as this conversation may be, I'm opening the door. No signs of life in the greater vicinity," Nebula said and unbuckled herself. Once the door was open, Kylepo was the first one to venture off, eager sniff about the ship.

"I assume this place is fine for a weak human, yeah?" Tony said, taking a few steps further into the ship, just in case. "You know, no toxic fumes or whatever?"

"If you could handle Titan, you can handle this—though the solar radiation levels are a bit higher. May want to stay out of the sun as much as possible."

Loki stepped off the ship and had to squint his eyes. He knew immediately that if he slipped into his Jotun form, he would be in some severe discomfort. It was warm—no it was _hot_ and not just by his Jotun standards. He would be surprised if Stark would be able to handle the atmosphere for too long. Beyond their landing area, which looked like it had probably been the main point of traffic who knows how long ago, there were some large hangers in the distance and a communications base, if Loki were to guess by the tower on top of it.

It took a while for Loki's eyes to adjust to the brightness and the light that reflected off the sand and rock on the surface, but he saw that there were actually ships—or, what he supposed were the remnants of ships—littering the area. Most were completely decrepit, having been left to the elements for so long, and covered in dirt and sand.

Tony followed after Loki, wearing his full Iron man suit, just in case. "Yeah, the radiation level is higher than Earth's but not exactly Chernobyl. Guess I'll plan on being on ship duty. I'm going to stretch my legs, then start repairs."

Loki made a beeline for the communication tower. He may not have had the same health risks as Stark, but he wasn't eager to hang out in the direct sunlight either. The tower was a fair distance away, and he was sweating by the time he reached the door. When he did, he took a pause before entering.

"Looks like something pretty large forced its way in," Cass said from behind him. He had heard her walking but didn't feel the need to slow down for her to catch up.

There were scratching on the metal door to the communications tower. Loki reached out and ran his fingers over a set, finding that their spacing seemed indicative of claws. "I don't suppose something could be living inside of there, do you? Shelter or not, there doesn't seem to be anything around here for leagues."

Cass shrugged, he could tell by her shadow, "dunno. Want me to go first and protect you from a big bad monster?"

Loki stepped to the side and swept his arm out. "Why not? After you. If something jumps out of a closet, I'll throw you at it."

Cass pushed the door open and walked inside without any hesitation. Loki presumed that the people who had previously lived or worked at the station were on the smaller end. He had to duck to get through the door and remained hunched as he walked behind Cass, whose petite frame had no problem in the corridors.

They entered into what appeared to be a waiting room. There were a few chairs that were strewn to the side and a broken glass window with a desk behind it. Loki imagined a receptionist would have worked there, buzzing people into the rest of the building. A glance through the broken glass showed him that there was a jacket of sorts still hung up on the door into the little room and even, what he assumed, was a lunchbox.

Cass went through the next door as well, which had also been forced open. It led into a larger room with a few cubicles, one of which had been torn apart entirely. There were doors on the other side of the room, to Loki's left, and a door across from him. He looked around the cubicles a bit and found that there wasn't anything of interest. Machines akin to computers, a few personal belongings, rolling chairs… Nothing interesting. He wanted to take a look at the cubicles on the far end, seeing that they were particularly torn up, but Cass continued on, and he chose to stay with her, just in case he wanted a shield.

Through the next door they went, which led to a long hallway leading to the left with windows lining one side—most of which were broken. Sand had blown in, covering most of the ground, but it was still fairly easy to walk through.

"I'm going to have sand all in my boots," Loki muttered and scowled, shaking his foot a bit to move what had already built up around. When he stood properly again, he heard a crunch. "Oh, that didn't sound good."

Cass stopped and turned around as he knelt down and brushed the sand off of whatever he stepped on. He would have assumed it was glass, but it sounded an awful lot like—"bone."

Loki nodded in agreement. Was it an animal bone, or did it belong to the former residents? He held it up-it was certainly long dead. He dropped it and wiped his hand on the side of his trousers before they continued onward, down to the end of the hallway. There, they reached a door with the same series of scratches, but it was closed.

Cass reached out and tried the door. "This one's locked. You want to give it a go with your immense Jotun strength?" She stepped aside and Loki gave her a bit of sneer, sensing sarcasm in her voice.

He tried the door again and found it was, indeed, locked. Not only that, but a shake of the door led him to believe that it was reinforced. Judging by the way the sand piled at his feet, and the fact that this door swung into the hallway instead of into whatever was on the other side, Loki figured it hadn't been opened in sometime.

Taking a step back, he kicked the door, breaking the lock and part of the door frame. It swung open and Cass walked inside, looking thoroughly unimpressed.

"Looks like we've found the inhabitants."

Loki looked into the room, which wasn't hard since he stood a head taller than Cass, and saw that there were a few skeletons littering the room. Loki furrowed his nose, expecting to smell decay, but there was nothing. The windows in this room had a few broken pieces, enough that the room had aired out over however long they had been there.

There were seven of them, vaguely humanoid, but very short and with tails. One the piles of bones seemed smaller than the others, leading Loki to believe it was a child. Cass walked in, callously stepping on and kicking around bones, to look out the window.

"There's an opening below here. I'd guess an underground hatch or something. It's opened. Probably why nothing could get in from the windows. Too far down with the hatch." She looked for a moment or two, then turned around to bend down and pick through the clothing of the one closest to her.

"Could you… just _not_?" Loki said in irritation, raising his hand and closing his eyes. He had seen war, he had seen corpses—he had made quite a few himself. But he was not one to go looting through bodies on the average day. All he saw were the dead Asgardians he had failed to save, and the image of Cass picking through their remains.

"They're dead. They've been dead for decades." She pulled a gold colored necklace off of one of the skeletons propped against the wall, causing the skull to fall off with a crash. It was brittle enough that it broke into pieces. She stood and took a step towards Loki.

He opened his eyes and clenched his jaw. She looked at him like he was an impertinent child, like it was ridiculous that he didn't feel the need to desecrate a family of corpses that had locked themselves in a room to die, alone, on an unforgiving planet. He grabbed her by the collar of her jacket in an instant and then launched her towards the windows. They, too, were brittle, and shattered upon impact. Out she went without so much as a scream.

Loki stepped around the bones to peer out the window, but saw that he could see far enough into the hatch to see where she had landed.

He'd go get her out later.

Maybe.

For now, he needed some peace and quiet.

000

Author's Notes: I was going to continue on a bit longer, but I decided to end it there so that you could all revel in Cass getting thrown out a window. Some of you may say that Loki may be too emotional when it comes to random skeletons, but I do feel like he is likely suffering from PTSD. I feel like he always fiercely loved the Asgardian people, which was evident by how much he wanted to rule them. It was the greatest honor to him. Also, he didn't _have_ to take his escape ship to Asgard, knowing full well Hela was destroying it and he could die, but he chose to go save them anyhow. Loki doesn't know how to grieve properly, so it comes out at, perhaps, inopportune moments.


	12. Chapter 12

Loki, the Undying

Rated: T

Summary: [Set immediately after Infinity War, Spoilers inside.] After his encounter with Thanos, Loki is found adrift in space. After finding that he is too late to attempt to help Thor save the universe, he is determined to find out the fate of his brother. After all, Loki is still the God of Mischief, and he may have a few, albeit drastic, tricks up his sleeve.

000

Tony and Nebula investigated the hanger. It was quite large and had over a dozen docking stations, but most of them were empty. After enough exploring, everyone, well, everyone but Cass, met back up at the ship.

"Where's Cass?" Tony asked.

Loki shrugged. "There's a hatch behind the communication tower. She's, ah, investigating. I don't expect she'll be back soon. Also, there may be large, aggressive creatures on this planet, just as a warning."

"Did you see any?" Nebula asked.

"No, just signs of them. They could be dead from a lack of food, for all I know, but best be wary. Anything in the hanger?"

"Not much," Tony replied, "but I'm thinking it would be best to move the ship into the half that's empty. I'm picking up some signals in the distance that lead me to believe a sandstorm may be incoming. I can't work on the ship if that's the case."

Loki nodded. That seemed fair. And with that, the trio set about prepping the ship for ground movement so that they could dock it in relative safety while they waited out the incoming storm. It briefly crossed his mind that he should retrieve Cass before the storm hit, but instead, he felt she deserved be left outside in the weather. She needed to learn her manners.

The hanger was filled with sand as well, but the ship handled the terrain well enough. If it were any bigger though, they wouldn't have been able to get it inside. Loki wondered if any of the ships that had previously been housed inside had made it off the planet if the inhabitants felt like they couldn't stay. There was at least one ship inside that likely could have made it off the planet before it was left to sit for decades—why hadn't they taken it?

After an hour of readjusting loose pieces and welding them shut again with the maintence kit from onboard, Loki caught movement out of his eye. It seemed Cass was up and moving about already, though she hadn't yet walked into the hanger.

"I think the storm is going to be here shortly," Stark said, pulling up a holographic map which displayed from his arm. It showed the general terrain of the area and a path of interference coming their way. Loki furrowed his brows.

"That… doesn't look like a sandstorm."

"Hey, educated guess. It's an alien planet, I have no data. That's why we took cover. We dunno what's coming. Sooner we make our repairs, the sooner we can get out of here."

"That's going to take longer than we planned," Nebula said and crawled out of the side of the ship. She had taken off one of the outside panels to climb in and check the wiring. "We've got some extensive damage. I can fix it, but I'm going to need to more time. I'm going to have to manually switch over the necessary components."

Tony shook his head and let his shoulders slump a bit. "Well, I guess we're going to have to wait out this storm, or, you know, whatever it is."

"Loki," Cass said from the entrance of the hanger. He ignored her.

"Some of the windows are broken but if we can get the door shut again, we might be able to miss the entire thing and work through the storm—"

" _Loki_ ," Cass said again, this time louder.

"What is it?" He snapped and turned around to face her. She blood on the side of her face and on her hands, but didn't seem bothered by it.

"Get your cat in here."

"What?"

" _Kylepo._ Get him in here. He won't come for me. He's not going to like what happens if he's stuck out there in about a minute." Cass said and waved her arm at the door.

"Why is she covered in blood?" Tony asked, but Loki ignored him as well. He quickly walked to the door and saw that the storm, since had no better phrase for it, was rapidly approaching.

"Kylepo, come back. It's too dangerous to stay out here." The feline perked up from whatever it was sniffing, and he ran to Loki's side without any hesitation. Loki grabbed the door and pulled, trying to slide it closed again. It had taken in his Ironman suit to open it in the first place. "It's stuck!"

"What do you mean it's stuck? I got it opened!" Tony shouted back, his tinny voice echoing off the high walls of the hanger.

Loki pulled again, only succeeding in breaking a chunk of the door off. "I mean—It's stuck! I can't pull it shut! I'm going to break the whole thing if I do."

"It doesn't matter," Cass waved, trying to shoo him away from the door.

"What? Of course it matters, do you see that thing approaching us? It's going to tear right through here if we can't shut this. Defeats the purpose of us moving here in the first place!"

"Don't worry about it, just get inside. Stay a few paces back."

"Just because you can't die—"

Cass stepped about two strides to her right so that she was facing part of the door that Loki hadn't broken. She held out one of her bloody hands and used two fingers to draw a symbol on the metal. She tapped it twice and Loki felt a surge of power rush through the room. He then noticed that there was a red glow around the perimeter.

"I wouldn't get too close to the edges, if I were you," Cass said to the group as she walked back towards the ship. She pulled off her jacket and tossed it into onto the ground haphazardly before sitting down onto an abandoned, cushioned bench that had likely been pulled from an old vehicle.

"What did you do?" Nebula asked, turning around to see the red glow did indeed cover the entire outside of the hanger.

"Warding. It'll keep anything out there from getting in. Unfortunately, it'll keep you all in here until I take it down, too. Feel free to work in peace. Would have had it done sooner if _someone_ hadn't thrown me out a window."

Nebula and Tony turned to look at Loki. He nonchalantly picked Kylepo up and set him in the ship.

"She was being annoying."

Nebula didn't respond as she climbed back into the hatch and set about making her repairs. Tony turned as well, fixing some of the outward damage with his nanotech as well as with the traditional welding tools. Loki stood, staring at the bloody mark on the door.

He furrowed his brows and pursed his lips a bit. He was sure he had seen something like that before, but where? It only looked vaguely familiar to him, as if he had seen something similar but not that exact mark. The fact that it was running a bit with dripping blood though did not help.

The sandstorm approached the building and Loki prepared himself to throw up a conjured shield in the event that the sand swept through. As Cass said though, there was nothing to worry about. It bounced off the red, glowing barrier and stopped. He was about to make a relieved remark when something lashed out from the sand, diving for the door.

Loki took a step back and conjured daggers, but it was unnecessary. The creature, a large, scaly being that ran on all fours and had large claws, screeched as it passed through the barrier and fell down dead as it crossed the red field. Cass snickered from her seat some feet away from him, as if it amused her.

"Told you to stay away from it. That's what happens when a living creature tries to cross."

Two more beasts tried their luck, only to have the same thing happen to them. Loki dared stepping closer to them and kicking one of their clawed legs. Dead—definitely dead. He supposed they had found the creatures that had torn through the communication tower.

Loki backed away from the dead creatures and then walked towards Cass. "You'll need to teach me that trick."

"Nah, don't think so."

He frowned. "That's clearly magic, albeit blood magic. I'm very powerful when I'm in top shape, I'll have you know. This is magic I can pull off."

Cass laughed. It was cold and hollow. "I'm sure you could. You'd die if you tried, but you might be successful. And if you're the only one who can remove the warding, what happens to anyone else trapped inside with you when you do the warding."

Loki looked back at the entrance and then at Tony and Nebula—her legs at least, since that was all he could see. "It's a deadman's ward?"

"Sure it."

"Deadman's magic can't be removed—hence the term," he said flatly, wondering if Cass had actually just doomed them all to be trapped inside the hanger. Except for her, of course.

"Unless you can't die. All of the effects, none of the backlash."

"What are you?" Loki asked, not bothering to hide his disgust.

"I told you," she said with a half grin, "I'm one of a kind."

000

As it turned out, the creatures did not just move with the storm, they _were_ the storm. There were so many of them that they kicked up sand as they went, creating clouds as they moved. Loki deducted that they had descended upon the inhabitants of the communication tower and didn't bother to leave until they had grown bored of trying to force their way into the last room. They had likely remained for a few days, dehydrating their prey quickly in the heat.

Loki wondered if they were destined to go the same way, but he knew they had enough liquids to last easily a week, and surely the creatures wouldn't pursue them _that_ long.

When Tony needed to take a break, Loki took over the repair work, wanting to get out of the hanger as quickly as possible when the opening presented itself. By the time night fell, they had successful made all external repairs, though Nebula needed a break before finishing the wiring work.

The _storm_ remained into the night. The scaly creatures periodically attempted the cross the barrier, but all of them met a similar fate.

"It's like a giant bug zapper," Tony said from his spot, watching as the beasts tried to find another way in. "Except, we're just as likely to get zapped."

"I know I've seen that mark before," Loki muttered from his spot near Cass. He had removed a large tarp to find another cushioned bench. It was almost as if the people before them had set it up to be a break room.

"You're a highly educated Asgardian prince," Cass said. Her eyes were closed and her head was back on the dirty cushion.

Loki put his head in his hands, running them through his hair. She was right, of course, but he highly doubted that blood magic would have ever come up in his tutorage. His mother had been his primary educator when it came to magic, and she certainly wouldn't have shown him such magic. It would have had to have been something he studied on his own, but what was it?

"You could just tell me."

"Where's the fun in that?"

More of the creatures threw themselves as the barrier, and soon, there was a pile of creature corpses as tall as Loki. By morning, it seemed as if they had given up. The storm cleared with dawn and Nebula finished with the wiring repairs.

Cass cut herself on the broken metal of the door and used her blood to put a strike through the sigil. The red glow disappeared, allowing her and Loki to toss the bodies of the creatures to the side of the building, opening up the way for their ship once more.

"You are going to clean yourself up, aren't you?" Loki asked as he hurled a corpse into the sandy expanse.

"This is mostly your fault. You just had to lose your temper and throw me out a window—"

Loki whirled around, his shoulders tense and just barely fighting off the urge to conjure up some daggers. "I would say that my temper has been rather good, actually. I've only killed you twice down, and it's been weeks. Keep pressing your luck and I may be inclined to do it more often."

Cass laughed, causing him to sneer at her in annoyance.

"You know, I really only bother you. Or, haven't you noticed?"

"You bother everyone," Loki replied and stalked back toward the hanger to grab another one of the creatures.

"No, not really. Nebula, Tony, well, Kylepo is a different matter. It's just you. Something about me really _rubs you the wrong way_ , doesn't it?"

"You capture me and held me hostage—"

"I saved you," she responded, quite seriously. "If it weren't for me, you'd be floating around in space still, dead, surely. Perhaps you wish I hadn't?"

Loki didn't say anything. He picked up the next creature, turned, and hurled it at Cass.

000

 _ **Author's Notes:**_ I imagine that being cooped up on a tiny space ship makes people rather aggressive after a while. Next stop—Earth! Two chapters posted in two days courtesy of the new trailer that dropped today! You got a new one yesterday because of Captain Marvel. I was going to wait, but how could I!? I also just got back from Iceland, and lemme tell you, I'm really feeling the Norse Mythology now! I meant to get a picture with the Cafe Loki sign but I forgot...

Rowanoak: So pumped to see Nebula in the new trailer! Sorry that there's been such a delay. If you want, feel free to message me your Cass theories ;)

Whirlwind421: It took until another cool trailer came out for me to update... Woops! Trying to slowly get Loki and Tony on the same page without just erasing all of their baggage haha. Thanks for sticking with me!

Soleneus: thanks for pointing that out. At this point, I'm just keeping it as the Milano for consistency rather than correcting it. It's just easier that way!

GreenSand: Thank you for your review!

Fan Girl 666: Thank you for your reviews! I'm trying to give Loki a decent sense of humor after Ragnarok without making him tooooo comical. Want him to have suitable growth! And yes, it's super rude to call him, or anyone, a mutation! I bet he would give Professor X a heart attack with all of his shenanigans!

Guest: Thank you for your review!

Sasha: Thank you for your review! I've tried to keep the characters as they're portrayed in the movies without stepping too far into the extreme 'fandom voice' of certain characters. I may slip up from time to time, but glad to hear you like it!

Spxxxxx: Thank you for your review! I'm sorry it's been so long since an update, but thank you for reading so far!

Lover of Emotions: Thank you for getting to Chapter 11! I might have lost some readers with my few month delay, but I'm glad some people are still reading! Thank you!

I hope to have some new chapters soon! I'm rewatching all of the Marvel movies so hopefully there will be some inspiration! 

Ever Your Servant,

A.F


	13. Chapter 13

Loki, the Undying

Rated: T

Summary: [Set immediately after Infinity War, Spoilers inside.] After his encounter with Thanos, Loki is found adrift in space. After finding that he is too late to attempt to help Thor save the universe, he is determined to find out the fate of his brother. After all, Loki is still the God of Mischief, and he may have a few, albeit drastic, tricks up his sleeve.

000

The thing about the Snap, as it was dubbed after Captain America and Black Widow recounted the moment Thanos ended it all, was that it _wasn't_ just one half of all living things. It was so, _so much_ more.

Fifty-percent of all living things vanished in an instant. Thousands more—hundreds of thousands—would die immediately after. Planes, trains, and automobiles…. All without pilots, conductors, or drivers. Police, firefighters, and emergency workers. Gone. National guard and disaster relief—halved.

There were not enough people to handle the impact of the Reckoning moments after it happened. Doctors, nurses, EMTs…. There weren't enough of them, either, to handle those already in care. It was chaos all over the world, and not just twenty four hours after everyone witnessed loved ones vanish.

Within days, natural disasters struck that swept the globe since there was no one to watch for signs and warn the general population. In a period of a month, there were wildfires, earthquakes, and tsunamis. Life, as the humans had known it, would change forever.

And that was the problem with Thanos's logic, not that Steve had ever had any doubts. He knew the Titan was, well, _mad_. Still—how was is that someone who had worked so hard to acquire the Infinity Gems hadn't bothered to see his plan through until the end? How had he not seen that by taking 'half' of the population, he was dooming everyone else as well?

Small towns, technologically-lacking countries… they fared the best. Big cities had to be evacuated very quickly. They suffered the most when planes toppled buildings, subway cars crashed, and busses caused high pileups. They were also fairly quick to become rampant with violence.

Disaster recovery specialists suggested it would take nearly a decade for the world to recover to a near state of normalcy. It would take an entire generation before the trauma subsided.

"Just got off the phone with Shuri," Natasha said as she approached Steve. She joined him at the balcony overlooking the main floor of the Avenger's Compound. There was a wall of screens in front of them, showing them scenes from across the world. "I don't think anyone, in a million years, would have expected that the African Nations would be the most stable after a world-wide catastrophe."

"They aren't, not politically," Steve replied, though it was hardly more than a grunt.

"Status quo, for some of them. Wakanda stepped into the world at a good time. One part of the world may come out _unscathed._ "

"No one's unscathed."

"Yeah, well, just trying to be positive. You should try it," Natasha said and turned around, back to the monitors, crossing her arms.

The Compound had undergone some drastic changes. The Avengers, or what was left of them, were back in the good graces of the government. They had to be—there were so few people who were properly equipped to deal with the leftover alien attackers that they needed _specialists._ Besides, after Steve and Natasha went live with their explanation, no one could discredit them, especially with Wakanda backing them up and showing video evidence of the battle that took place.

Many nations were angry that the Avengers hadn't called for backup, but many admitted that the speed in which the fight occurred, start to finish, with invaders who crash landed… it would have been impossible for them to be able to adequately.

" _We fought an incredible enemy—and we lost."_

It took a great deal of coaxing, but Thor explained what he knew to a panel of international leaders. Some believed him, some didn't. However it was far easier for governments to claim an intergalactic enemy attacked and unify the people than to search for other answers.

And… the world _had_ been united. It was the only good thing to come out of the horror that had befallen them. Steve knew it wouldn't last—it never lasted. But for at least a little while, international relations focused on rebuilding and moving forward, since no one was in any condition to try to fight. He hadn't been around to see if of course, but he imaged this was how the countries reacted after the end of World War II.

Thor had moved into the Avengers' Compound. Jane hadn't made it through the Snap. Thor was officially alone. After the fighting had finished in Wakanda, he closed up. He blamed himself—he said he should have known better, _should have gone for the head_.

" _Loki would have gone for the head, or the heart. He would have known what to do. I'm just a brute who hits whatever is in front of him."_

Rocket, who knew no one on Earth but Thor, was an angry monster. He had lost his best friend and was stuck on a planet where anyone who got their hands on him would have liked to dissect him. He only spoke to Thor. It was strange for Steve to see a racoon walking around, talking, shooting things, and, most strangely, drinking from a liquor bottle like a battle-hardened soldier.

But that's what he was, in one case or another.

He moved into the Compound as well, having nowhere else to go.

The Avengers were rebuilding from those left behind, but they weren't recovering. They probably would never recover, not really.

000

"You sure this is going to work, Stark?" Nebula asked, turning the controls over to the human.

"No, but no one seems to have a better idea. So, uh, fingers crossed?"

Loki stared out the window, watching as the globe continued on his rotation. From so far away, it didn't look as if there was anything different. It kept on turning, and there were no giant blemishes that indicated something heinous had happened. It just looked… peaceful.

He knew that the people were not—they could not be—peaceful. They had suffered like everyone else in the universe, and yet again by the hands of strange aliens. That was exactly why they had to get in touch with earth—let the planet know that they were coming.

" _Uh, yeah, hi. It's Tony Stark, you all know me. So, a little while back, I hopped a ride on a huge spaceship that was attacking New York… again… Took a while, but I managed to get a ride back. It's me, three companions, and, uh, a cat—"_ Kylepo meowed in the background "— _so, if anyone can hear me, we're coming in, and we're just barely gonna make it. Please send a pick up. A friendly one, preferably."_

He sent his recording out on every wavelength that he could access. F.R.I.D.A.Y. sent it out on everyone of the Stark lines she could reach, and Nebula sent it out on her Comm Line, though there was no guarantee that anyone would hear them. They could be shot down before they fully managed re-entry.

They hadn't been traveling for too long, much to Loki's pleasure. The Milano, despite how it may have looked, was designed for swift travel. It was small, but sturdy. It had helped that Nebula was quite the confident pilot

"The best we can do is aim for a water landing and hope that someone heard us," Tony said as they started to enter the atmosphere. He suited up so that his armor could give him protection. "This thing is equipped for a water landing, right? We aren't going to just immediately lose the whole ship to a watery grave?"

"Should be, but with no entry guides, I have to time it perfectly, or the mechanisms are going to burn up after they've been deployed. Brace yourselves." Nebula said and slightly altered their trajectory. Most developed planets had planned entry paths that limited the amount of damage to a ship. Earth was not one of them-they were doing their best to guess and not burn up.

Kylepo jumped onto Loki's lap, and he embraced the feline. He could throw up a shield that would protect the two of them if the ship broke apart, but they would still have to swim. Could this feline species even tread water? Loki hoped he wouldn't have to find out. He had grown quite fond of his animal companion.

Cass looked suitably miserable, much to Loki's pleasure. "What's wrong?" He asked, "I imagine you've had plenty of rough landings."

"Water," she said, scrunching up her nose. "One of the most irritating ways to die. Just keep drowning over and over until I reach land."

Loki smirked, thinking that if they made it through their adventure, he'd find the wettest planet he could and drop her on it.

It only took a few minutes before they entered the atmosphere and went plummeting towards the Earth. They passed over some land, but soon, it was all water. As Loki felt a moment of relief, there was a terrible _crunch_ as part of the left wing broke apart. Their rough landing quickly became horrendously rocky. Still, Nebula remained focused and managed to deploy the water landing gear.

The system did not enjoy their landing and loudly alerted them to its feelings with a series of beeping and screeching. Eventually, they came to a stop.

"Landing gear is damaged," Nebula said, quickly unbuckling. "Ship may sink. It's going to get-" she didn't finish before the left side of the ship dipped down considerably. Without hesitation, she opened the door, which was on the right, so they could escape.

Loki maintained his hold on Kylepo as Nebula led the way, followed by Loki, then Cass, and finally Tony, who felt he would be fine even if the ship sank. They climbed out and onto the exterior of the ship, trying to move gingerly to keep it from going under anymore on the one side.

"I can go for help," Stark said, pulling up a holographic map. "We're off of the coast of West Africa and-"

"Something's coming," Cass said, pointing to the distance, though Loki couldn't see anything. Tony swivelled around in the air to that direction.

"I-yeah. Something is coming. They look like my suits… but those are _definitely_ not mine." Three figures neared them, zooming through the skies. When they got closer, loud music was blasting, causing Loki to raise his eyebrows. Did some things never change? "Really?" Tony groaned, "electronica? If there is some sixteen year old kid flying around in my suits-"

"I'm eighteen, thank you very much," came a female voice as the leading figure, a black and dark blue suit with purple accents, came to a stop, mid-air. "And these are _my_ suits. Since you were presumed dead, someone needed to take over. You really integrated yourself in the world defense, Mr. Stark."

"Take over-who the hell are you supposed to be, Short Stuff? You think you can just _take over_ my system and-"

" _She is inside of my system, Mr. Stark,"_ F.R.I.D.A. over the intercom. " _Now that I've resynced with the home system, it seems there's been some modification."_

"Who do you think you are, you little-"

"I'm Shuri. You knew my brother, T'Challa, King of Wakanda. I'm here to rescue you."

As if on cue, the two other figure, which were solidly blue, changed their shape. The suits were apparently nothing more than dolls, and they shifted their form to join together to make a small boat-well, it was boat shaped, but it was hovering. Cass needed no provocation and jumped immediately into the new craft.

"Really, I'd get in if I were you," Shuri said, "I was first to pick up your call but someone else is going to catch on. They're not real keen on spacecrafts these days. You'll be safe in Wakanda."

Nebula looked towards Tony, who hadn't moved. Loki guessed he was assessing the damage to his system and deciding if he could trust their supposed rescuer.

"It's been six months," Tony said slowly, "I-it wasn't-it wasn't that long-"

"Side effects of space travel, and Titan," Nebula said and jumped into the boat with Cass after Tony didn't give any indication they were in danger. "Jumping through space hinders perception of time and the rotation of planets in different sectors. I don't like being out in the open, let's go."

Loki helped Kylepo into their rescue craft and jumped in last. Tony chose to fly, which wasn't surprising.

"Let's get you to Wakanda then catch you up on everything you missed." Shuri threw something at their slowly sinking ship and with a bit of a shimmer, it vanished. "I'll send some extra dolls to pick it up and move it. It should be safe for now. Hold on tight, we're going to go _pretty fast_."

Her warning gave them all of a few moments to buckle themselves in and hold onto some handles before the boat zoomed forward. An invisible shield at the front kept the wind to a minimum, but it was still whipping their hair all around them. Kylepo hid beneath Loki's legs, his claws digging into Loki's leg whenever he started to shift. Loki grit his teeth but didn't move the cat away. He was too excited.

Adrenaline was pumping through his veins again and he finally felt like they were back on course to _do something_. He wasn't sure what the next step would be, but he felt that if there was anyone in the universe who could set things right, it would be _Earth's Mightiest Heroes._ Afterall, they had stopped him and inadvertently stopped Thanos once before. With some extra time to prepare, maybe they could do it again.

000

 _ **Author's Notes:**_ I debated on having Pepper be the one to pick them up, but I decided that she would have been too far away to get to them quickly. Having them land off the coast of West Africa put them far enough away from governments with enough tech to very, very quickly get to the space wreckage (I'm thinking the left over SHIELD people), but close enough to an ally. So, Shuri it was. We are going to be going on the theory that Shuri becomes Iron Heart.

Since writing this, it has been revealed that Shuri did not survive the Snap, but Valkyrie did. For the purposes of this story, I am going with: the Asgardians all died on the ship and Shuri survived. My goal is to try to get through all of this story before Engame is released. That's… 24 days. Can we do it… Well, we're going to try!

OtherwordlyStarlight: next chapter! They reunite with the rest of the Avengers! Thanks for reading!

Cocopalm333: you know, after watching Captain Marvel, I had a good laugh about the fact I happened to incorporate an alien cat into this. Not sure if Kylepo will turn out to be one or not, to be honest… I don't want to make the team too OP ; )

Fan girl 666: Oh. My. Goodness. Cass as the Collector or the Grand Master's sister would be HILARIOUS! I feel like that would be a fantastic OC and would be so much fun to write! I don't think she's quite eccentric enough, haha! But with that second review… Getting warmer!

Everyone, thanks for reading! Your reviews really keep me going. And this is my most 'alerted' story ever! Very exciting! Here's to hoping I can dish out a chapter every few days!

Ever Your Servant,

A.F


	14. Chapter 14

Loki, the Undying

Rated: T

Summary: [Set immediately after Infinity War, Spoilers inside.] After his encounter with Thanos, Loki is found adrift in space. After finding that he is too late to attempt to help Thor save the universe, he is determined to find out the fate of his brother. After all, Loki is still the God of Mischief, and he may have a few, albeit drastic, tricks up his sleeve.

000

As Loki stood in a great tower, looking over the beautiful (yet battle scarred) land of Wakanda, he realized something.

He had absolutely chosen the wrong city to try to start his take over, those years ago.

Wakanda reminded him of Asgard. Their technology was far superior the rest of countries on Earth, though Stark could give them a run for their money. They also had a fantastic fusion of futuristic and tribal or traditional—that was what reminded him of home the most. It was all quite… regal, in his opinion.

Not that anyone much cared about his opinion, at the moment.

Loki was surprised to see the young woman who saved them from the ocean. She was not even an adult but even he found her rather impressive. She was clearly brilliant and had a personality that he could only deign unflappable.

"Listen, I've got a country to run and a continent to repair," Shuri said from her spot at a holographic computer screen. Her back was towards them, but they were hardly paying attention. Tony was eating his third helping of food, continuously insisting that it was superior to anything else in the galaxy. Cass joined him, though she picked at it, rather than devouring it. Nebula sat at a table nearby, using some of the tools that Shuri had supplied her to repair some of her cybernetic body parts.

And Loki…. Loki just waited at his spot at the window. Shuri had told them that Thor had survived, along with a few other of the Avengers. If that was the truth, then why had Thor not come to find him? Perhaps he did not care that Loki had lived as well. Perhaps he blamed Loki for the death of the Asgardians—and rightfully so at that.

"My staff is setting up a transport to get you to the others. They're still in the 'Avengers Bunker' or whatever you call it. Good news though, the Sokovia Accords have basically been nullified. It's all hands on-deck, as they say. No one has time to police the Avengers while they're busy policing their own countries, I guess…"

They had tried to ask Shuri about what had happened on Earth. They had hoped for a debrief. However beyond letting them see the footage of the battle, she was not eager to talk about it. She said it was better for 'their friends' to tell them the details. Loki found that hardly fair, since he felt that Shuri had given him a warmer reception than whatever he could expect from the rest of the Avengers—he figured they would be locking him up and leaving him to rot as soon as they could. He figured that was the best case scenario and only likely if Stark vouched for him. If not… well, Loki figured he was much easier to kill these days and a final death could be awaiting him very shortly…

"When you're done eating, one of the staff members will help you get cleaned up and get you some new clothes. If you'll excuse me, there are armed bandits at our border that I need to go blow away."

"We can help with that," Tony said, perking up, "you know, since Wakanda has been so welcoming."

"Tch," Shuri spat as she turned around in her chair and started to walk towards the exit, "aliens and Avengers have done enough to Wakanda. We'll handle it ourselves." For as callous as the words were, her tone was light and she gave them a wave as she left.

000

They had an armed escort as they left Wakanda. Shuri sent two of her Dolls with them, as well as two Wakandan pilots. For the first time since their galactic journey had begun, the space quartet and cat could sit back while someone else took the wheel. Though the flight was certain fast compared to other earth travel means, it was still a few hour ride to their destination in upstate New York.

"Stark," Loki said, his voice barely above a whisper. Tony was sitting with his eyes closed and his arms crossed against his chest. "Stark!"

"Whaaa-t." Tony replied in annoyance, not even cracking an eye open.

"You've… spoken to the others?"

"I spoke to Pepper and Rhodey. Cap was out." Loki scowled. Tony had been on the line with someone for a _very_ long time. He was disappointed to know that it was only his woman and not someone more important. "Why?"

"Do they know I'm coming?" Loki asked.

Tony finally sighed and opened his eyes. "Yeah."

"… Do they know I'm coming and I'm not in chains?"

Tony hesitated, and that was really all Loki needed to know. He put his head back with a _thunk_.

"They're going to shoot me on sight, aren't they? Probably think I've mind controlled you or something."

"Yeah, probably. That's a 'you problem' and not really a 'me problem.' You're pretty good at not dying though, so I'm sure you'll be fine, even after Nat and Barton get their hands on you." Tony replied and settled in once more, his arms going across his chest again. "Thor will be there though, maybe. He'll pull them off of you."

Loki grimaced. At this point, he'd rather let the Hulk toss him around like a rag doll again than face his brother.

To his surprise, however, it was the Hulk, well, Bruce Banner, that was the first to greet him.

The Wakandan ship touched down smoothly on the landing pad of Avengers' HQ. He had tried to catch a glimpse of who might have been waiting for them, but their pilots insisted that he sit, and he had no interest in challenging the fierce warriors. So Loki sat and tried to calm his nerves so that he could put on a brave face. He had stared down Thanos (and almost died), so what were the Avengers compared to that?

After they received the all clear, Loki and his companions made their way to the exit, where the door opened and provided them with a staircase to the cement pad. Tony led the way, as it was his territory. Cass followed him, with Nebula after. Loki prepared to take up the rear, but before he could step off, Kylepo meowed up at him.

"What? It'll be fine."

The feline meowed again.

"If they blast me to smithereens, I'm sure someone will look after you. Cass will make sure of it so she doesn't get stuck with you. Now come along and be sure not to stand too close to me, just in case…"

But there was no blasting. Loki stepped down and fell into place next to Nebula, watching as the Avengers, or what was left of them, stared at them. Their eyes were burning holes into them—but Loki got the distinct impression it wasn't out of anger. It was embarrassment.

They were all trying not to look at Pepper and Tony, who were currently locked in a tight embrace. Pepper was sobbing, alternating between swearing at Tony and kissing him. Loki gave a small smile and quickly suppressed it when Pepper slapped Tony twice and then embraced him. One thing that was curious about the matter, however, was how incredibly _huge_ Pepper was looking. Funny, Tony hadn't mentioned that his woman was pregnant. Or perhaps he didn't know?

Based on the complete look of shock on Tony's face, Loki gathered it was the latter.

"Loki," Banner said, pulling Loki's attention back to the group staring at him. "Before anything else, you should know that I vouched for you so… don't make me regret it."

"I didn't realize we were that close," Loki replied lightly, sliding his hands into his pocked and rolling back and forth on his feet.

"We're not," Banner replied dryly, "but we're all enemies of Thanos. The enemy of our enemy, right?"

Loki was about to open his mouth when he felt a rush of power coming from his left—well, left _ish_. It was flying at him. He barely had time to throw up a simulacrum and step away before it hit. Just as he was about to keep moving, the power turned towards him, seemingly guessing his movement, and grabbed him tightly.

"You _are_ alive!" It was Thor that wrapped his arms tightly around Loki, squeezing the breath out of him. "I did not believe it when Banner contacted me! I thought it must be a trick! But you are truly here!"

"Can't—breath—"

Thor loosened up but did not let Loki go. "I am so relieved! I thought—ow!"

Finally Thor released Loki and he saw that Kylepo had latched himself onto Thor's leg.

"What manner of beast is this?" Thor asked, shaking his leg, trying to get the feline to let go.

"I—it's… My cat?"

Without further prompting, Thor reached down and pulled Kylepo off of his leg and cradled him in his arms. "And you have a cat! How it reminds me of the mousers back home—you loved them!"

Loki looked over Thor's shoulder to the others who seemed like they were stifling their laughter. Loki cleared his throat. "Ah, well, yes. So, let's catch up later. I think there are more pressing matters to deal with…"

"He's right," Rogers replied, stepping forward. "I understand that there is catching up in order, but before that, let's head inside for a debrief."

"Then we celebrate?" Tony asked over Pepper's head as he held her sobbing form to him. "I could really use some… celebrating."

Barton frowned—no, he scowled. "Celebrate? Are you fucking kidding—"

Natasha elbowed him in the gut, causing him to grunt. "We could all use a little… celebrating." She looked over at Barton, her eyes narrowed. "Just for one night."

He looked like he was fuming. He looked at Loki with murder in his eyes, then at Tony with—was it jealousy that Loki detected? Whatever it was, he gave his long look and then turned away first, marching off towards the Bunker.

Loki had been in Barton's mind. He knew Barton's secrets. He knew that Barton had a family: a wife, a few children. Did they not survive Thanos's wrath? Loki guessed not. So few had, after all.

Barton was right. This was no time for _celebration._ It was a time for _mourning._

000

Stark and Nebula started off the recap explaining their fight with Thanos. Loki was practically on the edge of the seat. Had they really come so close to winning? Had Stark and his crew spunky scrappers really managed to almost get that bloody gauntlet off of the Mad Titan?

"We almost had him," Tony said, wiping a hand down his face. He knocked back the last of his scotch. "We almost had him."

"What happened?" Rogers asked.

Nebula let out a slew of curses in numerous dialects and then slammed her fist down on the table, shaking the glasses around her. "Peter. Fucking. Quill."

And then they explained the rest. Loki's blood practically boiled as he internally seethed. If they ever managed to right Loki's many wrongs and stop Thanos from ever even enacting his plan… Well, Loki was certain he would kill this Peter Quill if ever they met, simply out of principle.

No one that selfish deserved a second chance? Even Loki wasn't that selfish…

Except, of course, he was. He had taken the Tesseract knowing full well who was after it. He could have left it, he should have left it. He knew that Thanos had planned to use it. He could lie to himself all he wanted and say that he never would have taken it if he knew what would happen because of his actions… But it was just that. A lie. He had always known. And he did it anyhow.

Because he was selfish.

Stark finished, abbreviating the rest of his story to explain how he and Nebula met up, then how their duo became a quartet and a cat.

"And you, Loki? How did you survive Thanos?"

"It was because of your sorcery, wasn't it?" Thor asked, stepping up to the table and setting down his large glass of beer. "You had a plan, didn't you? To escape Thanos and find a way to beat him."

Loki smiled ruefully, shaking his head. "No."

"You didn't plan to stop Thanos?" Natasha asked, raising a delicate brow at him. Loki hated the way she seemed to look right through him. No mortal should have been able to have that sort of power over him.

"I mean, there was no sorcery. No trickery. No plan. I tried. I failed. I felt Thanos snap my neck as he choked the life out of me. I thought I died—truly." He swallowed, feeling the phantom pain in his neck once more as he imagined the tight grasp around his neck. "I thought I died."

"How did you come to meet with Stark then?" Thor asked.

Loki shifted and sighed, giving a nod over to Cass. "Scavengers found me, floating in space." The group gazed turned towards her.

She raised her glass of liquor and gave a shrug. "Guess he really is _undying_."

000

Author's Note: I know, I know. Not very exciting. I need to get them all settled in so they can make their plan and actually start that plan. I don't want it to drag, but I also don't want to just rush it. Will there be a chapter of drunken debauchery? Or at least a partial chapter? Who knows. That's a tomorrow decision. I think I might need to pause and write the last few chapters and work into them since I know how I want those to go and I just keep replaying those in my head… We'll see. I actually changed the last line because I felt it made some things too obvious and since Loki isn't going to figure out Cass's deal for a few more chapters, why make it easy on you, right?!

Ah, review time. This was an interesting round of reviews.

ThePhoenixandtheDragon: if you manage to get this far… I hope it got better? I never in a million years thought someone would say they didn't hate Cass but hated Tony! I tried to have Tony's outburst be within character. He is prone to going off on people when he's angry (like when he gave out his address in Iron Man 3.) I don't know if Tony will ever be able to forgive Loki. We haven't seen him interact with Bucky, so we don't really know if he's forgiven Bucky either. He need a focus, and it's easier for him to blame Loki than anyone else, even Thanos, when Loki is right in front of him. Anyhow, thanks for your review, and I hope you're able to move on with the story!

Now for the Guest: … I'm glad you mistook this fic for another and jumped to the most recent chapter? Haha! Listen, I get not liking Cass. Readers are really supposed to not like her. She is not some OC love interest who is supposed to come in and save the day. She is a plot device. Half the time, I want readers to forget she's even there. When she pops in to do something, whether it's her conversations or a strange ability, I want the readers to question what the point is! Hopefully if you get to the end, it will make sense. Also, hopefully you enjoyed the more recent chapters enough to move past your dislike of her, haha!

Spxxxxx: thank you for your review! I am really going to work hard to it out! I have the epilogue done, and I'm trying to make sure I have at least the next chapter ready before I post… but I may start updating too frequently for that!

Everyone else! Your reviews really help me keep going! I'll try very hard not to get distracted and to keep writing!

Ever Your Servant,

A.F


	15. Chapter 15

Loki, the Undying

Rated: T

Summary: [Set immediately after Infinity War, Spoilers inside.] After his encounter with Thanos, Loki is found adrift in space. After finding that he is too late to attempt to help Thor save the universe, he is determined to find out the fate of his brother. After all, Loki is still the God of Mischief, and he may have a few, albeit drastic, tricks up his sleeve.

000

Though Stark insisted that he was drinking to celebrate, ("I'm drinking for three!"), Loki suspected it was in mourning, like the rest of them. After finishing off his first bottle of scotch that he graciously shared with the group, he asked Pepper if they were having a boy and if so, then could they name him Peter? It was clear that Stark had other things on his mind than the fact that those he loved had made it through the Snap when so many others did not.

Barton had retreated after a few drinks because he couldn't hold his tongue. Natasha dragged him away when he started going off on an incoherent slur about family. He tried to fight her, but she had not been imbibing—only staring at Cass as if the alien woman had made threats against them all. Nat seemed reluctant to leave the room, but with the sour moods, it was better to simply remove the incitement.

Stark and Pepper retreated shortly after. They hadn't yet had any privacy, and they needed their time together.

One of the strangest sights to Loki was the raccoon that joined them. Thor introduced him as the 'noble rabbit, Rocket'. Loki noted that no one bothered to correct Thor, so Loki let it slide. Apparently the creature had helped Thor in his quest to forge a new weapon. He hadn't said much to Loki once he finally joined them in their 'celebration,' but he did sit with Nebula and ask her a few questions. Loki gathered that he had been hoping that at least one of his friends would return with Stark.

Once Nebula recounted the battle and got to the part about Peter Quill… the talking beast jumped up, swearing, and throwing whatever he could get his hands on at nothing in particular. Rocket was angry… but he didn't seem surprised.

There were a few people that Loki didn't recognize.

"Scott Lang," said one of those few as he walked up to Loki's spot. Loki had quietly sat nursing his own bottle of strong liquor while Stark hogged the spotlight. Lang actually put his hand out for Loki, much to his surprise. Loki sat up fully from his hunched position, shook the man's hand, and then swept his arm out to the seat next to him.

"Loki, of Asgard."

"Yeah, I heard. So, uh, I hear you were the one responsible for the Invasion of New York."

Loki's brow twitched. "It's complicated."

"Yeah, heard that too. Mind stone, or whatever. Listen, I'm gonna be honest. I have no idea what these guys are talking about half the time. Thanos? Infinity gems? I'm just here to help. Which… you are too? Yeah? They're all pretty chill being around a mass murderer, so I guess you had to have turned over a new leaf."

At his words, Loki turned to stare at the man. He was so nonchalant that Loki really had to give him credit. "Apparently you're pretty 'chill' about it too."

Lang shrugged. "Man, I've done my time in jail. I've met some bad people. Would I forgive them for their crimes? Maybe not. But I would want them on my side in a fight. So, basically, you're on our side?"

Loki shrugged. "I'm on my side, and right now, that's the same side."

"Cool, cool, so uh, what's space like?"

Loki appreciated the man's attempt to include him in the 'festivities.' No one else had been eager to talk with him, leaving him to his own devices on his cushioned chair. Thor would try to bring him into a conversation, but the others would quickly shut him out—and Thor would have no idea what they were doing, that buffoon. So, he took what he could get and decided to entertain the other outsider.

At the sound of Scott's laughter, the group started to move closer to him.

"No, seriously?"

"Yes. They are the most beautiful creatures in the universe… but they are _mean_. We got off easy, and likely just because we were Odin's children."

Thor finally sauntered over and gave Loki a new bottle. Loki had quite the taste for cognac, it seemed, and Tony kept the bar well stocked. "What tales are you telling now, brother?" Thor clapped his hand on the back of the chair and remained.

"The forest nymphs."

Thor gave a boisterous laugh. Some of those who hadn't yet inched over towards Loki—Steve, Rhodey, Sam, and even Natasha who had just returned—took a step forward. Cass, Nebula, and Rocket remained in their seats. "That is a good tale! A lesson learned, for certain…"

"Nymphs?" Sam asked, dropping onto a foot rest. "For real? Asgard had nymphs?"

Loki internally winced at _had_ but ignored it. "Yes. As I was telling Mr. Lang here, the nymphs of Asgard were a sight unlike any other. They were the perfect mix of woman and animal."

"They call those furries here," Scott said, earning a snort from Rhodey.

"Mmm, no, definitely not furry," Thor said, his hand held out like he was correcting Scott. "At least… I don't think…"

"They were _majestic_ ," Loki corrected. "Some looked like what you would call mermaids—those were the water nymphs. Some emulated a yorlea—I think, something like a gazelle here on earth? Lithe creatures with glittering horns—those nymphs were as fast as the wind and impossible to catch—"

"—we tried," Thor said with a grin.

"—and we failed. Some had the wings of birds on their backs, allowing them to soar through the air. Those were rarely seen though. I think they thought themselves above the others."

"Not that you would know anything about that, would you, Loki?" Natasha asked with a slight upturn of her mouth. Loki returned it with a smug smile.

"Anyhow, Thor and I decided we should sneak out to see them. We had just heard about a hidden grotto where they supposedly bathed."

"I'm pretty sure it was _my_ idea—"

"—no, it was mine, I just convinced you it was yours—"

"—ah, yes, that does sound about right."

"We escaped our escorts—for at that time, we were too young to be on our own. Odin said it was for our own protection, but I think it was more likely that we had a tendency to cause chaos wherever we went."

"You had babysitters?" Steve asked, raising a brow.

"Well… yes. Though half the time it was really just Huginn and Muninn following us, reporting back to Odin," Loki replied.

Thor chuckled. "You had to cloak us from their sight to escape the city limits, did you not?"

"Yes," Loki said and sat back in his chair, gazing off as if he were remembering fondly. "My magic was still new—I had to _literally_ cloak us and use an illusion spell on that… We left the limits and spent all day searching for the nymphs. It was nearly sunset by the time that we found them. It was like a dream—they bathed and sang… it was quite a sight."

"Sounds like you were being total creeps," Natasha muttered.

Thor laughed loudly again. "Yes. Yes we were. And we should not have been. We were just children at the time. We were foolish to think of invading someone's privacy like that—especially someone with enough magic to permanently disfigure us. We were of course caught. Loki could not contain himself and fell out of our hiding spot."

"I did not!" Loki replied, a look of betrayal on his face. "I was trying to hold you back from trying to get any closer! I knew what they could do!"

"I really don't think that's how it went, brother—"

"—oh yes it did—

"—mm, no, don't think so. My will power was just greater than yours—"

"—oh right, and it was your _willpower_ that allowed you to eat your name-day cake the night before… and that was meant to feed the entire head table! Even Volstag was disgusted!"

"I was quite sick after that…"

"So what about the nymphs?" Banner asked, a small smile on his face. He had a cocktail in his hand that Natasha had made for him, and he sipped it loudly.

She raised a brow at him and tilted her head to the side. "What, you want to hear more about the beautiful women, Bruce?"

He looked at her, eyes wide, like a yorlea in search lights. "Hey now, don't put words in my mouth. Clearly something bad happened or Thor wouldn't have mentioned a lesson learned."

"He's right," Thor said with a sigh and nodded his head solemnly. "Something bad did happen."

"We were turned into animals," Loki replied and hung his head. "It was horribly embarrassing. Thor was turned into a tornig, which is like a frog, and I was turned into a jackalope, which is-"

"A rabbit with antlers," Steve said, perking up. "We have those here."

"No, we don't," Sam said with a laugh, "those are myths. At least here they are."

Steve frowned, his brows knitted deeply. "What? No, they're real. Bucky's cousin's friend—". He stopped and looked around. "Okay, actually, he might have been making it up. Might have been just a rabbit with antlers stuck on its head."

The group laughed, including Loki who gave a chuckle. He… so comfortable now. Welcome even. It was like being back with the Warriors Three and Lady Sif, before things went awry.

"I think you gained your affinity for shapeshifting after that day," Thor said, reaching down to squeeze Loki's shoulder.

"Doesn't seem like much of a lesson learned if you started doing it voluntarily," Rhodey interjected, raising his glass with a skeptical look. Loki shrugged.

"The shapeshifting wasn't necessarily the bad part. It was dodging the predators for a night until Huginn and Muninn quite literally picked us up to take us back to the All Father. Mother's magic was able to undo some of the enchantment but…"

"I had gills and webbed appendages for days," Thor said and hung his head, shaking it. "I had to spend most of the time in the baths, so I could easily breath. Loki had buck teeth and antlers for just as long."

"We couldn't go into court at all. Thor's friends laughed at us for ages until he pummeled them hard enough to make them stop. Though I suspect it was Lady Sif who periodically left jackelope feet beneath my pillow…"

Loki couldn't help but smile fully. It was nice to have a captive audience. It was even nicer to be recounting completely true tales without even a hint of embellishment. It crossed his mind that he and Thor were the only two left who would remember that time, and his smile faulted.

"Too bad we couldn't see these nymphs. They sound pretty cool," Scott said with an _ah_ after gulping down his beer.

"Unfortunately, they fell with Asgard," Thor said, his smile also fading.

There was silence as reality set in once more. For a moment, it seemed that their short lived fun had come to an end. And then Cass spoke up.

"Bring out that Thanos-Killing-Axe of yours," she called out from her spot behind the group. There was a _clink_ as she set her glass down on the end table next to her. "And you can see a nymph."

Thor looked at Loki, who was doing his best not outright scowl. He would have preferred to keep Cass _out_ of his fun. However Scott and Sam were quick to start chanting _bring it out_ , which really decided how things were going to go. Thor reluctantly left the room and returned a few minutes later, wielding a beautifully massive battle axe. Loki could barely hide the fact that he was thoroughly impressed. He supposed it was exactly what he should have expected from the dwarves on Nidavellir.

The group gathered around the table where Thor had set his axe which was called by Stormbreaker. "Is it like Mjolnir? Only the _worthy_ and such?" Loki asked circling the table. Nebula had also joined the circle, leaving Rocket alone in his sorrows.

"No," Thor replied. "One need only the strength—and the desire to kill Thanos."

Bruce smiled and stepped back, a hand in the air. "I know I'm not strong enough. Maybe the Big Guy. Not me." Natasha also remained in the back of the crowd, aloof as ever.

Rhodey immediately turned around to go and get his War Machine gauntlets. Sam gave it a tug, and it moved a bit, but not much. He laughed and shook his head. "Yeah, that's a no for me. Dear lord, how strong _are_ you guys?"

Nebula took a detailed look and then put both of her hands down. She too was able to move it a few inches, but she couldn't lift it. Her cybernetic body wasn't enough on its own. Scott also used both of his hands and pulled. It slid, but it took him putting his foot on the table as well to try to move it.

"Lemme try again when I'm giant," he said with a laugh. There was a round of chuckles, though Loki felt he missed the joke.

Rhodey came running back in, his arms both covered in his suit arms. He was actually able to raise it into the air, but couldn't get a very good grip. "I bet I could do it with my suit on. I'll try when we're in the field."

"What about you?" Thor asked, nodding to Cass. She hadn't moved from her spot on her chair. "Do you have more power than your meek body displays?"

She gave a small smirk. "No thanks. I'm good. Saving my energy to show you all a nymph."

Thor shrugged but Loki narrowed his eyes. Surely one of her shifted forms would have the strength to lift Stormbreaker—she could likely transform into Thor, for Odin's sake! (That was a disturbing thought.) Could it be that she didn't want to kill Thanos? Was she concerned about giving herself a way?

Loki broke from his thoughts at Thor clapped him on the back. "What about you brother? Care to test your strength?"

"You know I am, brother," he replied with a grin and turned to stand fully in front of Stormbreaker. He wanted to kill Thanos. He knew it. Surely the axe would be able to tell… He just needed to be able to lift it more than Rhodey… Hiding his anxiety, Loki reached down and placed a hand on the wooden hilt of the axe.

He lifted it with ease—well, almost ease. Not as good as Thor, he supposed, whom the axe had been made for. However he certainly received looks of admiration for being the best (behind Thor,) and for that, he smugly beamed. He adjusted his hold to use both of his hands and swung it a bit in the space he was given. Natasha was watching him very closely, as was Steve. Perhaps they thought he would try to hurt someone? After a few moments, he set it down, and he swore he could see them visible relax.

"A fine weapon, brother."

Thor through his arm over Loki's shoulder and raised his glass. "I know we've been dealt a heavy blow, but I feel the Fates looking upon us. As someone clever once said, the sun will shine on us again. We _will_ defeat Thanos and we _will_ set things right!"

There was a round of cheering and glasses clinking. Loki remained with Thor's arm over his shoulder and felt a sense of pride as he looked amongst the group. Here he was with some of Earth's Mightiest Heroes, and a few galactic allies. He knew he shouldn't put too much hope in them, but Thor simply had a way of rallying the troops. He made people feel like they could do anything.

Now was no different.

"So," Thor continued after downing his drink, "about that nymph…"

Cass stood and discarded her oversized jacket. "Close your eyes."

"We don't know you well enough to close our eyes while there's a powerful weapon nearby," Natasha snapped quickly. Loki looked at the woman and raised a brow. She did not like Cass either, it seemed. Finally, someone else on his side.

Cass shrugged. "Fine. Don't be too grossed out."

She shirked off the rest of her clothes, causing at least Bruce and Steve to turn away. There was the sound of bone cracking, which then caused a few of the others to look away as well. Loki watched as her form shifted into something much larger than her normal form. To his surprise, wings began to sprout from her back just as quickly as her hair grew and changed color. Soon, he was looking at a very convincing nymph—one with Cass's same brown eyes.

He heard gasps and a mutter of _angel_ from a few mouths. Thor beamed, thrilled to see the visage of the Asgardian nymphs again.

Loki frowned. He knew that she could not take on a form without seeing it before, which meant one thing for certain—she had been on Asgard before. He looked up to meet in eyes, finding that she was staring at him. He returned the stare, a tight pit forming in his stomach. Though angelic she may have appeared… she was far from a harbinger of light.

His eyes drew downwards once more, to Stormbreaker, and he briefly wondered if Thanos was all that it could kill.

000

Author's Notes: I know, again, not much. But I wanted to give everyone the chance to 'warm up' to Loki before they start setting into their real goals. Gotta have everyone on the same page. Hopefully you don't find it too cheesy. I really fall under the belief that more than anything, Loki wanted love and acceptance in his life.

Redskin122004: thank you for your review! I'm glad you're enjoying the story!

Guest: I'm glad Loki brought you back =) thanks for deciding to stick with me!

MirandaStonelight: thank you for your review! And yes, I promise there is ABSOLUTELY more to Cass! Hopefully when it comes out, it will be an 'ohhhh' moment! I'm hoping to get more chapters out, but they just aren't coming as quickly as I would like… I have a big event this weekend and it is just mentally draining me! Hopefully when it is done I can get a chapter up every other day! Thank you for reading! I'm glad you're still enjoying it!

GliderPilot: Haha! "Cats are like Baskin-Robbins." I've never heard that but I love it! It's true, they're very intuitive! Thanks for reading!

And thank you to everyone else who has been reading! We are about 18 days out… Lets see how much I can get done before the movie!

Ever Your Servant,

A.F


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